A Grim Fate
by serioushugsies
Summary: Two former thieves , a girl who dreams of making a name for herself, and the walking definition of a mad scientist join together to fight against the darkness of the world. But one of them carries a secret that could shake Remnant to its very core, and when the time comes will she chose to fight? Or will she let the light finally burn out? (OC team following cannon story)
1. Chapter 1

**So despite being a big Rooster Teeth fan for a few years i just recently watched RWBY and have to admit i am impressed. so i thought i would try my hand at writing a fanfic in it with an OC team going along with the original story.**

 **For those of you who followed me for my Fairy Tail work, dont worry. I'm not abandoning any of my current stories (A chapter of Fallen Celestial is currently in the works.) But i just wanted to put this first chapter out there.**

 **for those of you who are reading for the first time, i hope you enjoy! And feel free to leave a** **review**

 **FYI: this story is starting under the assumption that you've watched the three volumes so while i wont exactly be spoiling things from the third volume this early just be aware.**

* * *

The town of Manara, a tiny little town that was only a few miles south of Vale, was a bustling little bastion of humanity. While not nearly as big as its northern neighbor for which the nation was named, Manara produced large quantities of raw ore, a resource that was just as valuable as Dust to most of the population. Thus, the city had been constructed up on the slopes of a mountain, had a wall around its outer edge, and a sizable police and Huntsman presence at any given time due to its significance. A necessary precaution considering that with so much goods going though its walls there was always more than enough Lien to attract less than noble entrepreneurs.

As night settled in on the quaint little town, many of its citizens were preparing for a good night's rest, readying themselves for the next day's events or simply enjoying the peace and quiet of the early night. Indeed, one could consider it an abnormally peaceful night compared to most evenings on Remnant.

Or it would have been, if it weren't for the fact that nearly the entirety of Manara's police force were currently screaming obscenities into the night sky as they chased two fugitives into the night, the sound of their feet stampeding across the city's streets enough to shake some to the buildings and draw curious gazes from the windows of the population.

The goal of their chase, two hooded figures that were sprinting through the streets and alleys at a speed that spoke volumes of their knowledge of the city, turned around occasionally to see how close their pursuers were to them. And unfortunately for them, due to either the sheer number of cops chasing them or simple dumb luck, they weren't getting away quite as easily as they normally did.

"Ok I'll admit, maybe the idea of stealing the mayor's food wasn't exactly my best idea yet. But you have to admit that this is a little much for just some fancy-pants food, right?" The taller of the two figures questioned the smaller one with a clearly amused and effeminate tone, only receiving a frustrated grunt in response from her companion as they continued their evasion.

The two sprinted down an alley, the taller of the two figures knocking over anything and everything she could in order to try and block the path behind them, snickering slightly when she heard the sounds of their unwanted company tripping over said debris. Unfortunately, through sheer determination or numbers, the two could still hear the sounds of their pursuers gaining on them, quite the feat considering that they were not exactly casually strolling through the city in order to enjoy the nightlife and there weren't any Huntsman behind them.

"Ok so, as fun as this had been, do you think you can take care of them? I'd be fine doing it, but I'd rather not knock down a building by accident again. They weren't exactly happy with us last time I did that." The taller figure begged with her hands held out in front of her clasped in prayer, her pace not falling in the slightest as she did so.

"Mmm…" The smaller one responded simply, nodding their head after a second. Without even breaking stride, the smaller one held out their hand and pointed it behind them at the cops, a green glyph appearing in her outstretched hand.

The two figures turned down yet another alley as the night behind them practically exploded with the same green light that was present on the smaller figure's hand. Neither figure bothered to check if the glyphs had activated properly, the sounds of metal sliding against metal along with the sounds of people stringing together curses were enough of a confirmation for the two of them that the spells had gone off properly and that they were free of pursuit for a brief moment.

"Sweet, we're almost in the clear!" The taller one proclaimed with a fist pump and shit eating grin on their face despite the situation. "Just a few more turns and we should be at the entrance to the sewer…and then we get to enjoy that smell for a few more days."

"…It's your fault." The smaller one returned, the taller one throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation.

"I know! But please, please, don't bring that up right now! Just let me freak out about this for a minute ok?" The taller one shouted in despair, clutching at their head as they moaned out loud.

Unfortunately, the two figures were forced to stop then when they rounded the next corner and found themselves face to face with a wall of trash and cars levitating in the air instead of the open four-way intersection they were expecting.

"Huh…well I wasn't expecting that." The taller one commented in a surprised tone, turning to their compatriot with her hands on her hips. "I don't suppose that this is because of you… No right, this isn't your style after all." They asked and upon receiving a shake of the head in response they could only sigh. "OK so new plan then, let's just try another way around and hope this doesn't have anything to do with us."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that." A new, cold voice declared from above, causing the two's heads to snap upwards in shock to see a woman standing in the open compartment of one of many Bullhead's that were now hovering just above the ground, bullheads that had seemingly been silent up until then. The woman stared down at them with cold calculating green eyes from behind her glasses. Before that night neither of the two figures would've thought that a woman with a riding chop could have been intimidating, let alone a woman dressed up like she was going off to work. But as the green-eyed woman glared down at them neither figure could deny feeling a could tingling traveling down their spines. "You two have caused more than enough trouble for the authorities around here, surrender and I might be merciful in your punishment." The woman declared like the grim reaper, the riding crop in her hand only somehow adding to her intimidation.

The taller of the two figures made a clicking noise with her tongue as she grabbed her right arm with her left, the sound of machinery spinning up echoing from under her cloak. "Well, I guess this simplifies things…we're just gonna have to fight our way out!" The blonde woman narrowed her eyes as she flicked her riding crop in the direction of the older girl, the tip of which began to glow purple. But before anyone could make a move the smaller figure reached out and placed a hand on the taller one's arm, said taller figure stopping to stare down at them.

"…Huntress." Was all the smaller one said as she nodded her head up at the woman in the bullhead, said woman turning her gaze on the smaller figure with an appraising gaze.

"Seriously?! I guess that food must have been really just that good." The taller one exclaimed in shock before sighing in defeat. "Well… I guess this is the end of the line then…funny, didn't think it end because we stole food." The smaller one nodded in agreement, the two figures raising their hands in the universal sign of defeat as the bullheads lowered to the ground, more police forces roping down to surround them in record time.

* * *

Glynda watched the two fugitives through narrowed eyes, the dust witch pacing on one side of an interrogation table as the two sat on the other side. The two fugitives had been brought in only minutes ago, having skipped straight passed processing and before being thrown in an interrogation room. Under normal circumstances, both figures would have been thrown into a cell immediately, likely never to see the sun again. In fact, many of the local authorities she had been working with over the last few days to apprehend these two were demanding just that…but when she agreed to aid them in apprehending the thieves, her old friend had given the local authorities one condition, a condition that was soon to be fulfilled.

But until it was she wasn't about to pass up a chance to reprimand children."Are you two aware of just how much trouble you've caused for the locals for them to actually request the aid of a huntress? You should consider yourself fortunate that we are even having this conversation instead of simply sending you to prison."

The taller of the two leaned back in their chair at that, her face covered in a grin that only irked Glynda all the more. "Yaaaa…ain't we stinkers?" She mocked, the smaller one simply lowering their head in embarrassment.

Glynda sighed as she rubbed her temple, attempting to keep . "If it were up to me, and up to the local authorities, you two would already have been processed and behind bars…but fortunately for you two, it isn't up to me. There's someone here who would like to speak to you, and I suggest that you heed his words carefully."

"Gee, thanks for the words of encouragement." The taller one continued, her tone only continuing to infuriate the blonde dust mage.

Glynda was only second away from striking the taller figures exposed hand with her riding crop when the door to the room opened, her direct superior and old friend walking through with a plate of cookies and a warm smile on his face. "Ah, the famous Phantom Thieves of Manara. I am Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon. A pleasure to meet you." Ozpin introduced himself with a nod before sitting across from the two figures and placing the plate in front of them.

Ozpin could practically feel the eyebrows of the taller one raise at the sight of the cookies, their arms crossed as she regarded him coolly. "Really? The illustrious headmaster of one of the world greatest combat schools just so happens to be in Manara waiting with a plate of warm cookies? This isn't suspicious at all."

Ozpin couldn't help but chuckle at that while he waved Glynda away, the blonde huntress's anger at the sarcasm clear on her face. "You would be surprised how often I end up in rooms similar to this one, speaking to children such as yourself and offering cookies to those on the other side of the table."

The taller one opened her mouth, likely to continue giving more snarky comments, but before she could utter a syllable the smaller one reached out and pulled the plate of cookies right in front of her, the cookies disappearing so fast that Ozpin couldn't help but remember the last time he was in such a room.

"…Really? You couldn't wait until after I had finished?" The taller one asked as they turned to the smaller one, who simply shrugged in response.

"…I'm really hungry." Was all they offered in return. The taller one simply sighing in response while Ozpin's smile grew, the headmaster pulling out a thin folder from the folds of his suit.

"The Phantom Thieves of Manara. Two thieves that have been operating within the town of Manara for over two months. Crimes include destruction of council property, petty theft, resisting arrest, and an interesting case of stealing a shipment of chocolate on its way to Vale." Ozpin recounted, raising a critical eyebrow at the last one.

The tall one simply shrugged her shoulders in response to his unasked question. "What can I say, we like chocolate and there was chocolate nearby. Things just kinda fell into place after that."

"Yet despite all these crimes and clear demonstration of skill, there were no fatalities amongst the police forces besides for a few bruised bodies and equally as bruised egos."

Neither of the two figures commented on that, the smaller one simply enjoying the cookies while the older one saw no reason to reply. And thus, Ozpin simply continued on.

"Suspect one was identified as Nuria Embers, member of the ill-fated attempt to form a new frontier town after the fall of Mountain Glenn. Believed to be dead until now."

"Tch, so you know all about that huh?" The taller one clicked her tongue in anger before reaching up and removing her hood, revealing brown curly hair and equally as brown eyes glaring at him. Ozpin was surprised at her appearance, though not her facial appearance. Rather, his attention was focused on the metal fingers of her right hand, metal fingers that would imply a false limb being hidden underneath her cloak.

That in and of itself wasn't something too shocking, as Ozpin knew quite a few Huntsmen and Huntresses who had chosen to replace lost limbs with mechanical ones in order to continue to fight, but from what little he had glimpsed Ozpin could tell that Nuria's was unique. It was bulkier than anything developed in Atlas, lacking the smooth elegance of most limbs. Instead the fingers appeared sharp larger than normal, almost as if it was a limb designed to fight as opposed to simply replace what was lost.

But all these thoughts never showed on his face, instead he turned his gaze on the only remaining hooded figure. "However, despite discovering the hidden identity of one of the Phantom Thieves, your companion here has remained a mystery to us until now. So young lady, would you be so kind as to introduce yourself?"

Ozpin could see the remaining girl freeze at the question, a cookie on the way to her lips when Ozpin began speaking to her. But after receiving a nod from Nuria the girls slowly lowered her own hood to reveal a face younger than Nuria by a few years, long black hair in a ponytail and sea blue eyes staring nervously back at him. She was clearly younger than her companion, lacking the mature aura of Nuria as well as the more effeminate curves that an older girl would have. But Ozpin could see a certain strength in the girl's eyes before she looked away, a strength that once again struck a chord in his mind.

"L-Lucina, my name's Lucina Lunimare." The girl introduced herself before staring down at the table, her eyes looking everywhere else besides Ozpin's.

"Lucina, huh…a curious name." Ozpin commented cryptically before turning back to Nuria. "Now then, regardless of your identities, with all that you two girls have accomplished here the local authorities decided to request the aid of my Academy, aid which I agreed to provide under the agreement that I would be deciding on your punishments. Miss Embers will be spending some time in a correctional facility to the north of Vale. While Lucina here, as she is still young enough not to be considered an adult and therefore will not be held accountable as one, will be placed in a foster care family until she comes of age and will provide community service."

Ozpin had barely finished when Nuria slammed her right arm onto the table, denting the metal and revealing that not only did she have a false hand but her entire right arm was false, and apparently heavy enough to bend the metal table under its weight if the crater left behind was anything to go on.

"Oh, hell no! No one's separating me and Lucina, I'll fight to keep her with me!" She growled threateningly, Lucina having scooted closer to the older girl as if to agree with her.

Ozpin quickly waved Glynda off, the huntress drawing her riding crop in preparation of a fight. "I had thought that you would say something along those lines, which is why I prepared an alternative for you just in case. As you clearly know who I am, you must also be aware that Beacon normally only accepts the best and brightest Huntsmen trainees, those who have gone to combat school or who have received a recommendation from particularly skilled Huntsmen or Huntresses. However, in recent years, the number of prospective candidates has been falling. Too many casualties along the front lines of humanity and too many people now living in fear of the Grimm to stand up and fight."

Ozpin stood then, his smile still on his face as he looked from one young girl to the other. "So here is my proposition for you two; join my school." Ozpin wanted to chuckle at the confused and surprised looks on the two girls faces, but his years as headmaster allowed him to keep his composer. "Instead of serving your sentences, you will undergo training at my school until you are deemed fit to become full-fledged Huntresses. Assuming you pass, your previous crimes will be forgiven and you will be released without penalty, allowed to find your own paths in our world."

Ozpin watched as Lucina stared down in silent contemplation while Nuria narrowed her eyes at him, both reacting to the news in different ways. "And we're supposed to believe that you're just doing this out of the goodness of your bleeding heart? That whenever kids with any skill show up you just offer them a place at your school? Heck, even forgetting weird this deal sounds, I don't even think we're the same age as all the other brats your picking up for classes!" Nuria countered, clearly unsatisfied with the path Ozpin was offering.

Ozpin tapped the file on the table before continuing. "Well, as for you Miss Embers. Based simply off of when you and your family disappeared, you must be in your seventeenth year or close to it. While Miss Lunimare here," Ozpin said as he gestured to the smaller girl whose head shot up at the mention of her name. "Looks like she couldn't be any younger than sixteen, so I doubt that anyone will raise a fuss over her considering her potential. So, I will ask you again, will you join my school for the next four years? Or would you prefer to make amends in prison?"

Nuria opened her mouth, likely to continue arguing against either going to the school or going to prison, but stopped when Lucina placed a hand over hers, drawing the brunet's attention. Ozpin watched with curiosity as a silent conversation took place between the two, a look of conviction on Lucina's face while Nuria's shifted through confusion, understanding with a hint of anger, before finishing on resignation.

"Well…at least I'll get to beat the shit out of Grimm for a while this way. That's always a fun way to spend a day." She eventually commented before turning back to Ozpin and nodding. "Alright, we'll play into your hand on this, just so long as you keep your end of the deal we'll go to school."

"Of course." Ozpin replied as he made for the door, Glynda right on his heels. "I look forward to seeing what you two can do during initiation. I have high hopes for you two. Until then." And with that he walked out the door, Glynda hot on his heels as they made their way to the chief of police to explain the situation.

Not five minutes later Ozpin and Glynda were sitting in a bullhead headed back to Beacon, Ozpin resting his hands on his cane, his eyes closed in silent contemplation while Glynda watched the landscape rush past with an annoyed look on her face.

Eventually the blonde dust mage turned to her old friend and decided to voice her concerns. "Are you certain about this Ozpin? Inviting two unknowns such as them to our school simply to help fill the ranks? For all we know they could very easily turn on the other students the first chance they get, abandoning them to the Grimm."

Ozpin did not reply immediately, his gaze focused on the bulkhead in front of him when he opened his eyes. "…I do not think we have to worry too much about them being unmotivated. While Miss Lunimare remains an enigma, there was a conviction in her gaze that even our current students lack, let alone our incoming freshman. And from what I've heard of the incident involving Miss Embers I don't doubt that she will kill any Grimm she comes across simply to avenge what she's lost. And besides…" Ozpin stopped for a moment, his own eyes turning to watch the world pass by them, his thoughts going back to the hope filled silver eyes he had recently encountered and the message from a friend that warned that the Queen was beginning to move. "We will need all the help we can get before long." Ozpin finished before he turned back to Glynda a knowing smile on his face. "And you cannot fool me Glynda. That despite your misgivings I know that you're at least somewhat impressed by Miss Luminaire's skills with dust magic. Else you wouldn't have waited so long before apprehending them."

Glynda huffed at that, crossing her arms and turning away from her old friend. In truth, the vice-Headmistress had been tracking the two girls for the last three days, but whenever she came close to confronting them runes that could only belong to a very unique Dust mage based semblance intercepted her and prevented her from making any moves. She could tell that whomever was the one who had cast the runes, clearly the younger of the two girls based off of tonight's events, could become quite a fearsome dust mage with a little polishing and training, something she would only be able to receive at a combat school.

"Hmph…very well, but I will keep an eye on them in case they try anything."

"I would expect nothing less."

* * *

Two girls sat across from each other in the holding cell, one looking nervous while the other looked downright pissed. Their weapons had been returned to them after Ozpin left a bronze carapace like shield on Nuria's left arm while Lucina now had a completely black sheath attached to her waist.

"Alright Luci, what the hell was that all about?" Nuria eventually growled out, Lucina flinching at the chilling anger in her tone. "You know why we've avoided huntsmen and huntresses up till now. So why in the hell would you want us to literally jump head first into the lion's den?"

"…I'm sorry." Lucina eventually said, her hands clenched on her lap. "I Just…didn't want you to go."

Nuria couldn't help but sigh in defeat, her anger vanishing in the face of Lucina's doe eyes. "Fine…fine, just be careful alright? There's too much that can go wrong with us being there for four years, and you've never been great at the whole subtlety thing anyway so make sure you keep your head down once we get there."

"Mnnn." Was all Lucina said in reply, her hands fiddling with the cloak around her shoulders in nervousness.

Nuria smiled as she stood up, moved across the chamber, and sat down next to the younger girl before proceeding to ruffle her hair. The younger girl leaning into the contact with a shy smile on her face.

"But still, I was kinda surprised at how quickly you jumped on their offer, even if we don't count the whole 'threat to your life' thing. Any other particular reason you wanted to become a huntress?" Nuria eventually asked.

"…Well they are pretty cool."

"Ok, besides how cool they are any other reason?"

"…Huntsmen and huntresses have access to information that most people don't. And I've heard that the library at Beacon is pretty big."

"Library?" Nuria parroted in confusion for a brief second before comprehension dawned on her. "Oh right, the secret mission your mom left you right? Is that what you want to look into?"

"U-unnn." Lucina replied her head bowed again in nervousness.

Nuria narrowed her eyes for a second; debating whether or not to press the girl and get her to tell her the secret mission she had been apparently entrusted with, but in the end simply shrugged her shoulders and held the small girl closer. "Well whatever…might as well hit the sack. We've got a busy day ahead of us after all."

* * *

A woman stood upon the ancient steps, her gaze unfocused as she stared out at the blackened crystals before her. She was not focusing on the strange formations however, instead her eyes sought out the man who had been playing a game of life and death with her for so long that she had almost forgotten when they had started. she knew that Ozpin had made yet another move, gathering more pieces on his side of the board in preparation for another round of the game.

She knew that if her most recently obtained pawn was present she would be warring the woman about her complacency, that allowing the forces of light to make more moves was a mistake on their part, but the woman couldn't care less.

Instead the woman simply smiled at the naivety of her white-haired opponent. the fool hadn't even realized that the game was already in play, and that she had already sent her pawns out for her opening move.

"Oh Ozpin, I simply cannot wait until you realize the truth. The truth that no matter what you do the game is already over."


	2. Chapter 2

"You know" Nuria started as she stared out the window at the slowly approaching school. "Got to admit that Beacon doesn't look as cool from up close as I thought it would back when I was a kid."

Lucina turned to look at her with a completely exasperated look. "Does it really matter? We aren't exactly going to the school for its architecture."

"Right ,right, my bad." Nuria apologized with a laugh.

It had been a few days since Ozpin had kindly "invited" the two of them to his school and they were now currently riding on one of the many airships heading for Beacon , the ship filled to the brim with new students ready and waiting for the chance to kill Grimm.

The two girls had abandoned the brown cloaks they normally wore and in their place had decided to go with outfits that were much more practical for combat. Nuria had gone with a brown t-shirt with a blue jacket over it, a jacket that was covered in pockets in order to hold as much extra ammo as she would need in the field. She had gone with a pair of blue jeans that the sales woman had sold to them on the basis that they were already pre-ripped around the knees, something that Nuria had claimed were worth the extra cost because of the fact that they came pre ripped and while Lucina couldn't comprehend why it was apparently worth it she didn't really want to argue about it. And to complete her look she had a pair of dark brown cowboy boots giving her quite the outlaw look.

Lucina on the other hand had gone with a much more reserved look for someone her age. If someone saw her on the street they would consider her outfit some kind of modified nun outfit. Its primary color was a light blue with stripes of white traveling down the sides of the dress as well as the sleeves. While someone from afar might think she belonged to some strange religion when they got closer they would notice that in fact the dress hugged her body very tightly and with the blade at her side and the missing coif she looked more like a priestess of war rather than a religious girl.

Nuria hadn't exactly been all that keen on allowing Lucina to wear what she considered "one of the most boring outfits she had ever had the misfortune of seeing", but when Lucina said she would let Nuria buy her some casual outfits and that this kind of outfit was useful for someone who used dust magic to such a high degree the brown haired girl finally relented.

Lucina could feel quite a few curious gazes from the surrounding teens, Lucina's dress and Nuria's exposed metallic hand drawing quite a bit of unwanted attention but neither girl bothered to pay attention to the stares, both having long ago grown accustomed to glares from strangers due to their previous line of work.

But the stares stopped when a projection of the woman who had captured them appeared in the center of the airship.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academe."

"Pshhhh, ya right. This sure is a "Privilege" all right." Nuria complained under her breath, causing Lucina to giggle under quietly and a few people nearby to stare at them strangely.

"Our world is currently experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future huntsmen and huntresses it will be your duty to keep the peace. You have all demonstrated the courage and strength necessary for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the skills to continue to protect our world." And with that the projection of Glynda Goodwitch disappeared leaving everyone crowded into the airship nothing more to do but enjoy the view as they continued their slow approach.

"…Vale's bigger than I thought it would be." Lucina eventually murmured as she stared down at the city, Vale being the first town she had ever seen that could be said to have actual architecture as opposed to buildings just cobbled together in haste to keep the elements away.

Nuria blinked a few times in surprise before smiling warmly and placing her still human hand on Lucina's head. "I almost forgot that this is the first time you've been to one of the big four cities. So, what do you think so far?"

"It's…big." Was all Lucina replied with, causing her companion to laugh at her expense.

"Thanks for the observation eagle eye, but in all seriousness its better for us if it's bigger. All the more dark alleys to slip into if we need to make a quick getaway." Nuria said, her tone becoming more serious as she continued, causing Lucina to pout slightly.

"…don't do something too obvious please."

"I know, I know. I'd rather not go to prison after all."

* * *

A few minutes later the Airship touched down, opening its massive doors to reveal an equally as massive courtyard flanked by towers taller than anything Lucina had ever seen along with rows of buildings one after another. While it was true that Lucina and Nuria had avoided going to town on the larger side Lucina had never expected Beacon to be about the size of Manara. Just how many Huntsmen and Huntresses were waiting inside with weapons primed?

But Lucina had no time to freak out at the prospect of having to possibly face down armies as Nuria gently pushed her forward and out into the bright midday sun. As the other hopeful huntsmen and huntresses moved towards the school Lucina and Nuria both moved forward and to the side and studied their surroundings.

"Ok so…do you have any idea where we're supposed to go now?" Nuria asked as she watched the other new students walk past.

"…aren't we supposed to go to the school?" Lucina answered with a confused expression, only receiving a exasperated look from Nuria.

"Ok well since you have no practical things to say I'm just going to go try and figure out where we're were supposed to go and make a few contacts while I'm at it. Stay around here alright." Nuria commanded and after receiving a nod of confirmation from her smaller companion she strolled off into the crowd, almost instantly waving down the nearest group of students.

"Ok…so now what do I do?" Lucina thought out loud with a sigh as she leaned against a nearby light post and closed her eyes in an attempt to alleviate the slight headache from all the new sights and lights assaulting her eyes. She could practically feel all the curious gazes from the other prospective students as they walked by her but she didn't open her eyes or even shrink back from the gazes. She had fully expected to get more than a few gazes for the first few weeks as she was wearing such a strange outfit compared to anyone else and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that she was small for her age and was at least a year younger than anyone else assuming she had been correct in assuming what her age was.

And while Lucina never enjoyed being the center of attention she could deal with this so long as it didn't continue on for too long. But at least they weren't bothering to come up and talk to her, leaving her to enjoy the sunlight and the sound of the wind blowing through hills that surrounded the courtyard.

Or she had been enjoying it up until the sound of an explosion echoed through the surrounding pillars, startling a few birds that had been relaxing just like Lucina.

Standing straight back up and opening her eyes wide she could see a thin trail of smoke rising into the sky back in the direction of the landing pad.

"What the hell was that?" Someone from the surrounding students asked their companions.

"Probably just some dumbass messing around with dust, just got to hope whoever they are they don't end up on your team right?" Another person replied in a mocking tone, causing a few of the people surrounding them to laugh.

Lucina for her part stared down the entryway in worry. As someone how used dust much more than anyone who surrounded her she understood the dangers of a dust explosion and how much damage it could do to someone without the proper aura shielding.

 _Should I…go and help?_ She questioned herself as she clenched her hands in worry. Neither Nuria nor Lucina wanted to stand out during their four years at Beacon, too many skeletons in their closets that would invite a lot of questions if someone found out about them. And getting involved with someone on the first day would introduce far too many variables for Lucina to know what exactly she could do to minimize her expose afterwards.

But at the same time Lucina couldn't help but recall her mother's words. _"You know Lucina, the world may suck, filled with all this darkness and such, but its because its so bad out there that we've gotta try and make it better anyway we can. Even if that means just offering someone a helping hand."_

 _Well...Nuria might get mad at me but I know I would like help if I just exploded._ Lucina eventually decided with a sigh as she started to make her way back to the airship landing pads.

Most of the potential students had already cleared away from the landing pads, making their way to the school or wherever they were supposed to gather, so when a white haired girl walked past in a huff Lucina couldn't help but steal a glance at her. The girl was the very definition of prim and proper, a complete opposite of the life Lucina and Nuria had just removed themselves from, but that wasn't the thing that drew her attention. Instead she was more focused on the girl's aura, which swirled around her body like an icy winter storm. But despite that Lucina could see that the girls light was much brighter and warmer than most, a strange contradiction to be sure.

But the girl was either so angry that she couldn't notice Lucina's stare or she simply didn't care, as the icy girl strolled past her without even breaking her stride. Clearly she was in no need of aid, so was it just a freak accident?

Lucina got her answer when she heard someone flop onto the ground and sigh like the world was crushing their shoulders. Turning around she saw a girl just a few inches taller than her own height lying on the ground with a depressed look on her face. The girl was lying down right next to a small crater that had been carved out of the pathway, marking her as someone who had been directly involved in the explosion a few minutes ago. The girl had mostly black hair with the tips turning a dull red color, something Lucina couldn't imagine being easy to maintain. She wore a mostly black outfit but like her hair Lucina could see hints of red peeking out from under her sleeves and the bottom of her skirt. Underneath the girl Lucina could see a long bright red cloak sprawled out beneath her, making Lucina regret abandoning her own cloak. It would be so much easier to blend into the background if others were wearing cloaks as well.

But Lucina didn't really have any more time to appreciate the girl's wardrobe, as she walked up to the girl and offered her a hand, the girl cracking an eye open as Lucina's hand blocked the light.

"U-um…a-are you alright?" Lucina stuttered, not really all that comfortable talking to someone she didn't know.

The girl smiled nervously as she grabbed Lucina's hand, who promptly helped her up. "Oh I'm fine just…enjoying my first day at Beacon. Thanks for the help by the way. I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose"

"Lucina Lunimare."

"Nice to meet you Lucina."

The two girls smiled nervously at each other for a moment when a blonde boy walked up and forcibly coughed and drawing their attention. Lucina couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the boys strange appearance, not his physical appearance but that of his aura, or phrased another way his lack thereof. _Isn't this supposed to be an advanced school for training? How could someone get in without even having their aura awakened? Is he someone like us? Someone who was forced to be here?_

"That explosion looked pretty bad, you ok there?" the boy asked Ruby.

"Oh ya I'm good." Ruby said with a wave of her hand before a frown formed on her lips in apparent concentration. "Hey…aren't you that vomit boy from the flight in?"

The boy grimaced almost instantly before an annoyed expression crossed his face. "Hey! Motion sickness is quite a common issue that many people suffer from. Plus don't you think it's a little cruel to make a nickname for someone so soon? How would you like it if I start calling you Crater-face?"

"That explosion was hardly my fault! It was all because of that Princess." Ruby retorted angrily as she started to walk around the outside of the courtyard, the blonde boy falling into step alongside her while Lucina held back a little, not really comfortable with not just one but two strangers now involved in the conversation.

"Anyway the names Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and the ladies love it."

Lucina couldn't help but pause at that. Did that name really roll off the tongue as easy as he claimed?

"Jaune…" She murmured quietly, drawing Ruby's and the boy in question's attention. "Jaune… Jaune… Jaune…Jaune…sorry, but it really doesn't roll off the tongue all that well." She eventually declared, Jaune's face now matching Ruby's cloak.

"Ok, ok I get it. Just…don't do that again alright uh…" Jaune started before realizing he didn't even know the name of the other girl.

"Lucina Lunimare."

"Cool." Jaune said with a smile, one that Lucina returned abet with a little more nervousness in her own smile.

The three were silent for a brief second, Ruby and Lucina not really all that good in making small talk with people they didn't know that well while Jaune was simply trying to figure out where exactly they were now. But Ruby eventually decided she had had enough of the awkward silence and decided to steer the conversation in the direction she was most comfortable with; weapons.

"Soooo…I've got this thing." She said as she whipped out a giant scythe from behind her back, the weapon unfolding in her hands and the blade cutting into the stone beneath them. Jaune leapt back in surprise at the massive complex weapon while Lucina simply blinked in surprise having not expected someone to draw out their weapon in the courtyard.

"Whoa, is that a scythe?" Jaune tried to confirm as he poked the end of the blade nervously.

"Yep, it's also a highly customizable, high impact, sniper rifle." She explained as she gently cradled the weapon like a much beloved pet.

"uhh…what?" Jaune dumbly questioned.

"It's a gun." Lucina clarified as she examined the weapon herself, impressed by its design.

"Yep, I call it Crescent Rose."

"Wow that's pretty awesome!" Jaune returned, Ruby's face lighting up in excitement the moment someone praised her weapon.

"So what do you two have?" Ruby asked as she returned Crescent Rose to its sheathed form.

"Uh well…I've got this sword and shield." Jaune replied as he drew his own blade and its sheath from his waist, the sheath itself expanding to form a shield.

"Ohhhh cool…what about you Lucina?" Ruby asked as she looked back at the black haired girl, who couldn't help but flinch slightly at her excited gaze.

"Just a sword…" She announced as she drew her own blade from its sheath and held it out with both hands for the excited girl.

Lucina's sword as slightly shorter than Jaune's but even at first glance one could see that the blade was meant for more than just cutting down Grimm. Down the center of the blade was a series or runic letters whose meanings were lost on Ruby and Jaune, but neither considered the fact that they might just be decoration. And rather than being comprised of steel like Jaune's the metal that comprised the blade was entirely black, so black that it seemed to absorb the light from its surroundings. But by far the strangest feature of the blade was about halfway down its length was a spot where the blade bent away in two directions for a brief time before joining back up father down the length of the blade, forming a complete circle in the middle of the blade large enough to stick a hand through.

"Wowww! That's so cool! So what it transform into?" Ruby practically shouted as she jumped up and down.

"uhhh…transform?" Lucina questioned blankly with a tilt of her head.

"Ya like, does it turn into a rocket launcher, or maybe something that shoots out saw blades?" Ruby elaborated as she continued to examine the blade, looking for any sign mechanical parts on both Lucina's sword as well as Jaune's.

"No its just a sword." Lucina replied, still very confused as to why her blade would need to transform.

"Ya same here, just a sword that my Great-great-grandfather used in the war." Jaune said as he returned his own weapon to its sheath, Lucina following suit.

"Oh…well I like them, not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." Ruby said with a shrug as she skipped ahead slightly.

"Right…classics…" Jaune agreed quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself but Lucina didn't bat an eye at his strange behavior, everyone had secretes they wanted to keep after all.

Ruby nodded in agreement with Jaune before staring down at the ground with a nervous expression. "So uhhh…why did you two help me out back there, you know in the courtyard after everything?"

"Eh why not? My mom always says strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Jaune explained with a shrug.

"I see…" Ruby murmured as she stared back at Lucina, who simply nodded in agreement.

"You looked nice and well…I don't really know anyone here and you looked around my age so…" Lucina quietly trailed off, embarrassed beyond belief to be admitting to this stuff.

"Wait your not seventeen either?!" Ruby all but shouted as she jumped to stand in front of Lucina and grabbed her hands in excitement.

"uhhh ya I'm around sixteen I guess?" Lucina admitted, causing Ruby to squeal and shake Lucina's arms up and down.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! This is so cool! I mean sure, I noticed how your around my height and all, but I just thought you were really small for your age and stuff. But yay! I'm so glad that you're my age I was so scared about being the youngest in Beacon but this is just so cool!" Ruby continued to shout in absolute happiness and continued to shake Lucina's hands.

"Hey uhh…not trying to interrupt this beautiful moment or anything but…do either of you girls know where we're supposed to be going?" Jaune eventually cut in, interrupting Ruby's excited speech.

Ruby instantly let go of Lucina's hands and turned around to face Jaune. "Uhhh no I have no idea. I was following you. Do you know Lucina?" she asked, Lucina shaking her head in response.

"Huh, OK then…well do you think there's some kind of recognizable landmark or something, maybe a directory? you wouldn't think that finding the entrance at a school would be that hard." Jaune asked as he surveyed their surroundings, Ruby giggling at his complaints.

"oh, uhh...w-we can just wait for Nuria to come back." Lucina said as she sat down on the side of a nearby fountain, Ruby and Jaune starring at her in confusion.

"Who?" They both questioned with tilted heads, but before Lucina could respond a new voice called out.

"Oiii Lucinaa! Where did you wander off to?" A voice echoed though the courtyard, a voice Lucina didn't need more than a second to identify.

"O-over here!" She shouted back as Nuria rounded a corner with an annoyed expression, an expression Lucina knew all to well.

"Remind me Lucina, did we ever make a code where "staying put" meant "wander off"?" She asked as she crossed her arms.

"ummmm….no?"

"Then do you want to explain to me why you decided to do just that?"

"Oh uh, that was my bad." Ruby admitted as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, drawing a curious gaze from Nuria.

"Oh making new friends huh Lucina?" Nuria said coyly as she nudged Lucina on the shoulder, the younger girl turning her head down and shuffling her feet. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nuria, Lucina and I entered the school together." She continued holding out her metallic hand to Ruby, who didn't seem to notice the metallic fingers as she returned the gesture. "as much as I would just love to sit out here and talk we're supposed to gather in the entry hall for Ozpin's announcement and assuming your just as lost as Lucina here why don't you just all follow me."

* * *

The four of them walked though the main gate to find nearly every new student gathered before a stage.

"Hey Ruby over here! I saved you a spot!" A blonde girl called out from within the crowd, waving excitedly at the red and black dressed scythe wielder.

"Oh uh…I got to go, it was nice meeting all of you. I'll cya latter!" Ruby said as she moved through the crowd to stand by the blonde girl.

"So uh…do you mind if I hang out with you two for the moment?" Jaune asked as he turned to Nuria and Lucina.

"Don't really care myself so long as you don't do anything too stupid." Nuria replied with a shrug, Lucina simply remaining silent and letting Nuria take charge like always.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, if there's one thing they say about Jaune Arc it's that he's as smooth as silk." Jaune said as he struck a pose.

"…and your done, bye bye." Nuria declared as she waved goodbye with her metallic hand, Jaune flinching, sighing, and walking into the crowd. "You certainly have an interesting taste in contacts Luci." She continued with a mocking smile, Lucina simply shrugging in response.

"He's nice...but I don't know if he'll last long in here. His aura's not even active."

"Seriously? He might not even make it through initiation tomorrow without it."

The two girls continued to talk about nothing in particular until Ozpin strolled up to the microphone to greet the new students by informing them that their efforts so far were nothing more than wasted energy in need of propose, and that they needed to take the first step before Glynda announced where they would be sleeping that night and that initiation would take place tomorrow just like Nuria said.

"kind of condescending for a guy who literally forced us into the school." Nuria growled before turning to Lucina and smiling. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Library?"

"...We really need to work on your concept of fun."

* * *

That evening the two girls sat in a corner of the ballroom, Lucina absorbed in a book she had managed to check out about "Legends of Remnant" while Nuria was engrossed in her own favorite habit, people watching. After Ozpin's speech the two girls had done nothing but explore the school that would serve as their de facto prison for the next four years, both impressed by the amount of money Vale had to be spending on the school. Apparently there wasn't a limit in the amount of money they were willing to spend on training new warriors.

"So apparently tomorrow they're going to be splitting us up into teams of four in addition to having us partner up with another person." Nuria quietly conversed as she watched the girl that had been by Lucina's side earlier in the day talk with a black haired girl who was also reading in her own little corner of the room.

"mmmm." Lucina made a non committal sound as she turned the page.

"We should be fine though, we've worked together much longer than most people here so we won't have a problem meeting up tomorrow."

"mmmm."

" I also hear that we have tame wild grim in nothing but our underwear." Nuria continued as she sent a pointed look at the younger girl, who continued to read unabated.

"mmmm…ow!" She tried to continue reading but was stopped when Nuria lightly smacked her on the head.

"You need to work on pretending to listen to people, and you could at least act like you're concerned about tomorrow.

"Why? It's not like we'll have any problems with Grimm." She pouted as she rubbed her head, honestly confused as to why Nuria was making such a big deal out of tomorrow.

Nuria opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything two figures approached drawing her attention away from Lucina and Lucina's attention away from the book.

"Heya Lucina." Ruby greeted with a smile and a wave, the blonde girl from earlier that day standing behind her with her hands on her hips and a smile of her own on her face. "I just wanted to thank you again for what you did for me today."

"Your welcome." Lucina replied as she put the book to the side and smiled.

"So you helped out my sis here huh? That makes you friends in my book too." The blonde girl spoke up as she bent down and held out her hand. "Yang Xiao Long, biggest badass of the Xiao Long family." She introduced herself as Lucina shook her hand.

"What are you talking about Yang, it's only you and dad after all so who else would be the biggest badass?" Ruby questioned with an almost embarrassed look, to which Yang only laughed loudly.

"Fine fine and the other girl is?"

"Oh right this is Nuri- oh my god you have a metal arm!" Ruby started to introduce Nuria before noticing the brown haired girls exposed right arm, her jacket missing in preparation of sleeping.

Nuria couldn't help but laugh as she flexed the mechanical arm for show, some gears inside clinking together while the sound of metal sliding against metal echoed through the room. "Yep, meet "The Devil's Right Hand". I made it myself with Luci's help here." She chuckled as she nudged Lucina's shoulder, the black haired girl lowering her head in embarrassment.

"Wowwww it's so cool! Is that your weapon? Does it transform into something? It looks so cool! And is that an Atlas designed ammo loader in its arm? What does it shoot?And it looks so cool!" Ruby continued to ask questions in rapid fire, both Lucina and Yang long forgotten.

"You bet it shoots, but I think I'll keep what it does secret for now, want to keep some tricks up my sleeve for tomorrow after all." Nuria replied, Ruby sighing in disappointment, before turning to face Yang. "Well it's nice to meet you Yang, I'm Nuria Embers."

"Same here." Yang replied before grabbing Ruby by the back of her pajama shirt and lifting her slightly into the air like a puppy. "See you two tomorrow. Who knows, maybe we'll be on the same team when all's said and done."

Nuria waved goodbye as the two siblings made their way back to their sleeping bags before leaning closer to Lucina. "So, how do they stack up?"

"They have strong auras and bright lights…but something about Ruby's eyes scares me." Lucina admitted as she watched the two leave. She had managed to hide it when she offered the black haired girl a hand earlier but the moment Ruby revealed her twin silver orbs Lucina could feel a strange shudder creep down her spine, something she couldn't explain away but disturbed her nonetheless.

"Her eyes?" Nuria clarified, Lucina nodding in confirmation. "Hmm…well, they both seemed nice enough to me but I guess if that's your impression I'll keep an ear to the ground when it comes to them. But enough of that, we have to get ready for tomorrow after all. Hopefully we won't lose our place here on the second day."


	3. Chapter 3

Morning came far too soon for Lucina's taste as she groaned and rubbed her eyes trying hard to force herself back into dreamland. She had never really been an early riser at all in her life but she had always been a light sleeper, the most quiet of noises forcing her awake and keeping sleep away for good. So when her fellow students started to get up and prepare themselves for the coming day Lucina tried her hardest to just pretend that she wasn't awake, a tactic that her partner wasn't about to let her get away with.

"Goooood morning sunshine!" Nuria greeted with what Lucina couldn't help but think was far too false of cheer, her brown hair even more disheveled than normal along with a shit eating grin on her face.

"…Kill me." Was all Lucina said in groaned in reply as she turned over, not willing to deal with the brown haired girls antics.

"Alright then, would you prefer a pistol or a good old fashion choke out?" Nuria continued as she stood up and began stretching, both her human hand and her metallic one easily touching her feet as she twisted herself like a pretzel.

"…Executioners choice."

"Ok, that's enough joking around for one morning, we've got food to eat and weapons to prepare after all so time to get up." Nuria eventually declared, using her metal arm to pick up Lucina by the back of her shirt like a kitten being picked up by its mom. Lucina whining in embarrassment at having her sleep wear shown off to everyone present.

The two girls slowly made their way over to the cafeteria after changing, noticing that only a few students present this early in the morning, but when they walked into the massive room Lucina instantly noticed that both Ruby Rose and her sister were already present at one of the tables.

"Heya Lucina! Luccciinnnaaa! Over here, over here!" Ruby shouted as she waved her hands through the air in an attempt to signal her, her sister quickly joining in the attempt to wave her over. Of course the sudden attention only added to Lucina's embarrassment at being singled out like that, an embarrassment that Nuria was quick to pick up on.

"Go on Lucina, go join your new friends. I'll go get us breakfast." Nuria half laughed as she nudged Lucina forward before making her way over to the counter where the lunch ladies were waiting. Lucina hesitated for a brief second, debating whether or not she should just follow her partner over to the counter and pretend not to have seen Ruby or just bite the bullet. But in the end she simply decided that it wasn't fair to the black haired teen for Lucina to avoid her just because she was unsettled by her silver eyes and slowly made her way over to the table the two sisters were sitting at.

"Good morning Lucina! Did ya sleep well?" Ruby immediately asked as Lucina took a spot directly across from the black and red dressed girl, the young dust mage yawning as she flopped down onto her seat.

"I guess…woke up earlier than I would have liked. You?"

"Oh I didn't really sleep all that much, I'm just so excited to get out there and show everyone what I can do. No more awkward small talk just weapons…uh no offense." Ruby rapidly stated before realizing how she had inadvertently insulted one of her only friends in the school.

"Its fine, I get it." Lucina easily replied as she glanced down at the sisters plates to see that both had massive stacks of pancakes for breakfast, apparently both desiring their early morning food to be on the fluffier side of menu. "Honestly I don't do to well with crowds so being around this many people makes me nervous too."

"Oh? So where'd you two come from then if you weren't around people so often?" Yang asked then, a perfectly innocent question but a question that caused Lucina to freeze up for a brief second anyway.

"Oh uh…we grew up outside the kingdoms…in the wilds around Vale i guess?" Lucina quickly explained as she fidgeted in her seat. "How about you two?"

"We grew up in Patch, our dad and uncle are teachers at Signal so kinda had to live nearby ya know?" Yang explained before taking a big bite of her pancakes. "Not much to look at out there but at least it was close to Vale."

"I've heard that Patch doesn't even have that much Grim compared to the rest of the world, practically a paradise for people who don't like to live behind city walls." Nuria commented as she sat down and slid a plate of pancakes in front of Lucina, smiling at her curious gaze. "Apparently the first trainee who showed up for breakfast got to choose the menu for the day and went with a smorgasbord of pancakes."

"Ya but who doesn't love a good pancake?" Yang laughed before answering Nuria's question. "It does have a few grimm but not nearly as much as outside Vale. Not so peaceful that you would, say, want your two kids walking around by themselves into some of the more uninhabited areas but still nice enough. Right Ruby?"

"Huh? Oh right…what Yang said." Ruby jumped when her sister mentioned her name before once again staring longingly at Nuria's mechanical arm, the older girl laughing at her admiration and placing the entirety of her metal limb on the table.

"Lucina mentioned last night that you had an appreciation for weapons, so you like what you see?"

"It's just so cool! How did you two make it? I know that Atlas has some mechanical replacement limb programs but I don't think that any of them come pre built with weapons. Did you base it off of their designs?"

"Not really no, it was just what supplies we could…get our hands on and what we could manipulate with our Semblances."

"Woooowwww….it's amazing!" Ruby half squealed and looked like she was about jump up when Yang pulled the hood of her red cloak over her head and pulled her back down onto her seat.

"Wow Rubes, I know you love weapons and all but try and cool it down a bit will ya? You'll need that energy for initiation today." The blonde said with a chuckle before turning to Nuria. "But still, with an arm like that I can't wait to see what you can do with it. Who knows, you might be able to give me and Ember Celica a run for our money."

Nuria grinned at that, a challenging grin and a grin that Yang returned. "maybe, maybe not. Maybe you'll end up as my partner and you can see firsthand what I can do."

"Oh ya! And then Lucina can be my partner and we can make a team and then we can work on weapons together and then…bunk beds!" Ruby shouted as she pulled her hood back again and shot a annoyed look at her sister who simply stuck out her tongue in response.

"…bunk beds?" Lucina repeated, completely lost.

"Oh it's nothing…just one of my many dreams."Ruby explained away, laughing in embarrassment. "But seriously, it would be so cool for us to be all on the same team. I wonder how they decide what the teams are?"

"Well why don't we go find out right now?" Nuria said as she stood back up.

"but don't you two need to…what happened to your food?" Yang started before trailing off when she noticed that the plates that had been covered in their breakfast were now completely barren, not even the tiniest bits of crumbs left over. "How did you…?"

"Well, when you grow up in the wilds you learn to eat as fast as you can." Lucina explained as she too stood up, curious as to why the sisters were staring at them like they had grown extra heads.

"Yang…they're witches…" Ruby tried to whisper but both Nuria and Lucina easily heard her.

"Aren't we supposed to burn them or something in that case?"

"Oh ha ha…but come on let's go get our weapons." Nuria sighed with a roll of her eyes motioning for the others to follow.

* * *

"Huh, so you use a shield too?" Yang commented in interest as Nuria pulled her scale-shaped shield out of a locker.

"Ya, a lot of people assume from the arm that I'm just a straight up brawler but my styles a little more basic than that actually. I just tend to go for one big hit." Nuria replied as Lucina pulled out her own sword and sheath in silence, a silence that was broken when Jaune walked by.

"This is ridiculous! I know I didn't leave my stuff in locker six-three-six yesterday. I would've remembered having to count that high. Ugh…" the blonde boy mumbled as he walked by.

Lucina turned to him, intending to tell him where his gear was as she had seen him store it yesterday, but stopped when she saw him flirting with the white haired girl from yesterday and a new girl that caused Lucina's breath to catch in her throat. The other girl was a good head taller than the white haired girl and stood there with patient smile on her face and by all appearances was a good person. Her aura clinged tightly to her form and shined with a blackish light, but despite the evil look of her aura Lucina couldn't detect anything wrong with her through her aura, the color only likely an indication of her semblance.

But no matter how friendly she was or looked Lucina couldn't help but be reminded of someone else, someone who had once been close to her.

And unfortunately for the black haired girl Nuria was quick to pick up on her discomfort. "Lucina…?" The older girl murmured, following her line of sight and instantly understanding Lucina's trepidation. "…are you going to be ok?"

"M-mmm…" Lucina replied as she took a deep breath in order to get her emotions under control. Luckily for her it was at that moment that the red head threw a spear through Jaune's sweater and pinned him to a wall and the speaker in the wall came to life.

"Would all first years students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? I repeat…" Glynda announced over the loudspeaker, the two girls instantly walking out of the room after the red head freed Jaune from the wall.

"Havin' some trouble there Ladykiller?" Yang questioned as the four of them strolled over to Jaune, who was still slumped against the wall.

"I don't get it, dad said all women look for is confidence." Jaune complained as Ruby offered him a hand. "Ugh, where did I go wrong?"

"Starting off with "Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best choice of nicknames." Yang said with a shrug.

"Ya, you also might want to try laying off the cheesy romance novel lines if you don't want to strike out next time. Though it was pretty fun to watch so feel free to keep going, whatever floats your boat." Nuria continued, trying to hold in her laughter at the blonde boy's heavy sigh of defeat.

* * *

Not ten minutes later Lucina and Nuria found themselves standing with every single new student on the edge of a cliff, each one of them standing on metal plates built into the ground and standing side by side with Glynda and Ozpin standing in front of them.

"For years you have all trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin stated in his mormal matter-of-factly tone as he gestured to the sea of trees behind him.

"Now I'm sure that many of you have heard rumors about the formation of teams, so allow us to put an end to your confusion." Glynda continued as she adjusted her glasses. "Each of you will be assigned teammates…today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, and possibly for the rest of your lives, so it is in your best interest to be paired with people you can work well with…that being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Opzin announced, a few people down the line groaning in response.

Lucina and Nuria instantly stared at each other, a silent communication passing between them as they determined how exactly to meet up. Lucina turned her gaze away to the forest, trying to determine where exactly they could go, and noticed a larger tree off in the distance. turning back to her partner in crime, the black haired teen gesturing with her head to said tree as Nuria nodded in response.

Ozpin continued after a brief pause, easily noticing the silent communications going on between those who knew each other before entering his school, but saying nothing about them. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along your way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. Your mission is to retrieve a relic from an abandoned temple in the indicated area and return here. We will regard that item, as well as your performance, and grade you appropriately…are there any questions?" Ozpin asked rhetorically, as he simply ignored Jaune's nervously raised hand, before staring at each student in turn. "Good! Now, take your positions." He finished, triggering the launchers beneath the students and hurling them into the forest.

And when both Headmaster and Headmistress turned around, it was to the sight of over twenty teens flying through the air. The future defenders of the world on their very first mission.

* * *

Nuria couldn't help but smile as the wind raced through her hair and gravity started to pull her down to Remnant. There were very few feelings in the world better than the feeling of wind rushing across your body, the exhilaration of being free from all the little stuff that piled up from day to day. nothing beat the feeling of not being bound by anything on Remnant.

But Nuria couldn't take in the feeling for too long. The meet up point that Lucina had indicated wasn't too far away, and with her semblance it would only take the black haired dust mage a few minutes to arrive at the tree she had gestured to. With such a strict stipulation as being partners with the first person they saw neither of them could take too long in meeting up or they would risk ending up with strangers as partners. Sure, Ruby or Yang would make a good teammate, Lucina seemed to get along well with them after all, but even then there were just some things that they couldn't trust others with no matter how close they got to people. Their history as thieves least among them.

So after taking another brief second to enjoy the view one last time, Nuria placed her shield in front of her body and reinforced her aura barrier before simply waiting for gravity to take its course. And soon enough a tree was brave enough to get in her way, but instead of crunching into it like a bug on a windshield Nuria instead shot straight through the tough wood and hit the ground like a rocket, leaving a crater and a cloud of dust in her wake.

Coughing to clear the dust and wood bits out her lungs, Nuria stood up and started to make her way through the trees in the direction of the tree Lucina had gestured to. Looking around Nuria couldn't help but whistle under her breath. "Huh, despite being infested with Grimm this isn't exactly the worst looking forest I've been in. defiantly better than that weird smelling one south of Kuchinashi. " She commented casually as she strolled through the woods, content to enjoy the scenery before breaking out into a dead sprint to meet up with the quiet little dust mage.

But she could only remain at ease for a brief moment, as the sound of growling quickly pulled her back to the grim reality everyone on Remnant shared.

"Already? Wow, they're really moving quickly today. Although with this many anxious kids in a forest I can't say I'm shocked." She mused out loud as she held up her fist and readied her shield. She debated for a brief second whether or not she wanted to use a shell already, but in the end she decided against it simply based off of the fact that it was only four Beowolves that stepped out from the bushes. "Oh come on, really? This is all you guys could get together for a welcoming committee? Well isn't this just disappointing."

A single Beowolf howled in response to her taunts and charged forward recklessly, presenting a golden opportunity that Nuria would've been crazy to ignore. Holding her shield up, Nuria easily blocked the swipe of the first Beowolf's claws before quickly upper cutting it a second later, her metallic fist easily sending the Grimm spinning through the air with a broken neck due to the explosive force she poured into it the moment before impact.

The other Grimm seemed to realize at that moment that the prey before them wasn't just some simple lost traveler, the remaining three lowering themselves to the ground and growling dangerously before moving to surround her in response to their quickly vanishing pack member.

For a brief moment no one moved, each combatant measuring each other's strength, but eventually two of the Beowolve's charged in, the third following shortly thereafter. Nuria bent her knees and right before the first of the Beowolves reached her she jumped over its back and used it as a springboard to launch herself at the next one who was slightly to slow in reacting. Using her momentum, Nuria stuck down at the Grimm, pounding it into the ground with a sickening crunch.

Rolling away, Nuria turned around and pointed her still human hand at the Grimm, activating the aura she had forced into the creature the moment she had touched it. For a brief moment the Grimm simply twitched like it had an itch it couldn't reach, but after a few seconds smoke began to billow out of its mouth and the creature fell over dead, its body burned away from the inside out.

But in the time it took to activate her Semblance the last remaining Grimm had moved in for the kill, its claws only a few inches away from cutting her down.

 _Shit! I got too used to having Lucina guarding my back!_ Nuria had time to complain as she tried to maneuver away but knew instinctively that it was too late to get out of the way, and that after hitting both a tree and the ground at full force her Aura might not be able to hold off a pair of jaws around her neck. But the blow never landed, instead an attack that neither combatant had been expecting burst through the trees. A high caliber plasma round, larger than anything Nuria had ever seen, cut through the trees and through the Beowolf's chest the Grimm crying out in pain for a brief second before collapsing, its body already beginning disintegrating into the air.

"…huh, well that was unexpected." Nuria said simply as she relaxed her guard and looked in the direction that the attack had come from to see a dark green haired girl walking towards her with a sniper rifle that was nearly as long as the girl was tall, the barrel of which was still smoking slightly. The girl was dressed in what looked almost like a heavily modified camouflaged military outfit, like something an Atlas commando would use in tropic areas but clearly modified based off of how skin tight it was an how much of her midriff was showing. The girls belt was absolutely covered in spare plasma canisters, a technology that Nuria didn't really understand other than it was some the most recent tech from Atlas and that it was some precise combination of lighting dust and fire dust and was particularly deadly. She was wearing heavy combat boots, the kind that someone could wear and walk over a rusty nail without even feeling a thing. But by far the most..."interesting" thing about her was her smile, a creepy sort of grin that Nuria couldn't help but shudder at the sight of.

 _Shit...well this kinda sucks._ Nuria couldn't help but sigh internally as she tried to put on her the most diplomatic smile she could muster. "Hey…uh, I know we aren't really supposed to do this but would you mind just pretending you didn't see me? I kinda have someone waiting for me."

The girl however continued to walk forward slowly, her eyes traveling up and down Nuria's body in a way that the brown haired girl couldn't help but compare to a perverts gaze, something that Nuria couldn't help but shiver at. "Your darkness…your pain…it's so beautiful." The girl declared, her voice just as creepy as her stare.

"U-uh…"

"I've decided…I will claim you for myself, and together we shall bathe this world in darkness like no other." The girl continued, cackling with a hint of madness in her tone. "My name is Umbra Mayfester, and it's a pleasure to meet you…partner."

Nuria couldn't help it when she sighed in reality this time, her hands on her hips and her head turned up towards the sky. "Well shit…sorry about this Lucina."

* * *

"…She's late." Lucina complained as she looked out over the forest, a pout on her lips and her right hand fiddling with the grip of her sword. Lucina had almost instantly reached the tree she had indicated and was sitting on one of its many branches waiting for her partner to show up. For the first few minutes she had enjoyed the peace and quiet, the calming sound of wind blowing through the trees and the distant thumps of distant explosions relaxing her almost to the point of falling asleep. But after awhile she started to get more annoyed until she couldn't help but puff her cheeks out in a pout.

"What's taking her so long? Did she get lost...maybe a stomach ache?" Lucina eventually questioned out loud, her frustration continuing to build.

"Perhaps the person you're waiting for met another student already? It has been awhile since the test began after all." A voice Lucina didn't recognize called out from below. Causing the black haired girl to cry out in shock and whip her head down, realizing on a second too late that she had just sealed her fate.

Below her was a pink haired girl with light blue eyes smiling up at her and waving slightly at Lucina's frown. She was wearing a pink sundress only a few shades darker than her bright hair and white high heel shoes. A look that made Lucina almost think that she was just a rich girl who had gotten lost if it weren't for the fact that the girls arm's and shoulder's were completely covered in steel armor that shinned in the early afternoon light along with the massive axe that was strapped to her back. The head of the axe wasn't overly big and its handle was far longer than what Lucina had ever seen, almost like someone had put an axe head on a spear shaft.

But for Lucina the physical appearance wasn't the only criteria she judged others by, as her ability to see the Aura of others gave her another avenue to judge others by and the girls Aura was equally as surprising as her choice of wardrobe. For most Huntsmen and Huntresses their auras only outlined their body, the color and shape of their soul giving Lucina hints about their personality. Even those without their Aura unlocked still glowed with the faint coloring of their soul, albeit in a much tighter outline than a Huntsmen.

But the girl in front of Lucina was completely unlike any aura Lucina had ever seen. Her aura didn't even seem to be attached to her, instead it was hovering off of her shoulders in the same blue color as the girls eyes and gently revolving around her in two massive sheets of Aura, something Lucina had never seen before.

 _Well that's new._ Lucina thought with a sigh as pushed herself off of the branch, landing gracefully on the ground and smiling nervously at the older girl. "I guess so…well it's nice to meet you. My names Lucina, what's yours?"

"Oh my, how could I forget to introduce myself?" The girl replied as she placed a hand on her cheek in embarrassment. "I am Aqua Deferia, huntress in training. A pleasure to meet you Lucian, I look forward to working with you for the next four years."

"M-mm…" Lucina murmured nervously. She didn't seem like too bad of a person, but in a world like theirs you could never be too sure.

"Indeed, shall we get going then? We have quite the long way to travel and I for one would prefer not to come in last." Aqua said with a laugh before turning around and beginning to head to the north, Lucina hesitating for only a second before following after her.

"Um…that's an impressive axe if you don't mind me saying…is it…uh heavy?" Lucina eventually asked, knowing that the question sounded completely forced but needing to find something to say.

"Oh no not at all, in fact I designed it to be lighter than most other weapons." Aqua replied with a laugh as she drew the axe from her back. "I needed to make it as light as possible in order to make its secondary form work properly."

"Its secondary form?" Lucina parroted with a tilt of her head, Aqua giggling at her confusion.

"Yes…this." she continued as she pressed a button on the handle and swiped the axe through the air. But contrary to what Lucina expected the handle of the blade actually separated into pieces connected by a metal wire and lashed out, wrapping around a nearby tree, and ripping apart its bark. "It's also a whip."

"Oh cool." Lucina stated her eyes wide in surprise.

"Oh yes, it is very "cool"…although some people seem to get the wrong impression from me after seeing the whip." Aqua said with a disappointed sigh. "A lot of my juniors in Haven would refer to me as "Mistress" When I passed them in the halls."

"…so you don't want the nickname of Mistress then?" Lucina clarified, Aqua sighing again in response.

"No, if it's all the same to you I would prefer to not have that nickname again."

The two girls walked in silence for a few more minutes before Aqua stopped and stared around at the forest in confusion. "Strange…despite the Headmaster claiming this area is infested with Grimm I only encountered them shortly after landing…where have they all gone?"

"Um…maybe another group already dealt with them?"

"Perhaps…but still…" But whatever the pink haired girl was about to say was lost when both heard a very effeminate scream echo through the woods. "Someone's in trouble! We must go to their aid!"

"…Why? Aren't they technically our competition?" Lucina questioned, knowing full well that whoever it was that had screamed couldn't be Nuria, as she wouldn't be caught dead making such a dreadful shrieking noise.

"What are you saying Lucina? It is our duty and our privilege as the strong to help those who lack strength, even if they are fellow huntsmen or huntresses." Aqua chastised as she turned around, a somewhat angry look on her face.

"Oh…is that how it works?" Lucina honestly questioned. For her entire life those close to her had advised her to keep to the shadows no matter what she saw.

"Of course, didn't you become a huntress because you wanted to protect the weak?"

"Protect the weak?…I guess so."

Lucina could see a look of confusion on Aqua's face, but after a brief second she shook her head, likely to clear her thoughts, and looked at her with a look of conviction. "We can discuss this later, for now we must aid the poor girl who is screaming." Aqua declared before running off into the underbrush, Lucina following after her a second later.

Eventually the two huntresses reached a clearing in the center of the forest, a circular ruin on the other side that had a number of people standing in front of it, including a brown haired girl with a mechanical arm.

"Hey Lucina! Took you long enough!" Nuria shouted as the two girls approached, but before Lucina could reply Yang stepped forward and wrapped her in a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you so much for showing up in a completely normal way." The blonde said in a far too emotional voice, only further adding to the younger girl's confusion.

"Um, what's going on?" Lucina eventually asked in a strained voice, looking over the blondes shoulder to see Nuria simply shrugging in response.

"Well…some of us got here by ridding Ursa, some by hitching a ride on a Nevermore, and some were followed by Death stalkers." Nuria answered as she pointed to the other side of the clearing where the red haired girl from before was currently being chased by two of the scorpion Grimm, one of which promptly struck her with the blunt end of its claw and sent her flying through the air only to land a few feet from their little group.

"Great, the gangs all here. Now we can die together." Yang said in mock cheer as Jaune helped the red head to her feet.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby announced before charging forward, clearly intending to take on the two Death Stalkers by herself.

"Oh shit, there's no way she can take on two full grown death stalkers by herself." Nuria cursed before turning to Lucina with a rare serious expression. "I'll go after one, can you buy us some time?"

Lucina turned to study the two death stalkers before replying. "Only twenty seconds."

"Good enough ,wait for me to get close before you do anything." And with that Nuria sprinted forward, her mechanical arm ringing loudly as she armed it.

"Ruby wait!" Yang called out, about ready to run forward but was stopped by Lucina.

"She'll be fine, watch." The younger girl said, her eyes never leaving the two students. She was surprised at how fast Ruby reached the first death stalker, likely a semblance at work, but wasn't surprised to see her attack simply bounce off the superior armor of the Grimm's exoskeleton. _I can't wait any longer._ Lucina thought as Ruby began to run away, the death stalkers perusing her along with a Nevermore that had just flown down beneath the clouds and attacking with a flurry of feathers, pinning Ruby's cloak to the ground and causing Yang to sprint off in order to help her but clearly too far away to help. _I'll have hit the Nevermore too._ She thought grimly as she concentrated her aura into the space around the Grimm, a green glyph with a chain twisted into the infinity symbol in its center appearing in her palm.

Everyone present watched in awe as green glyphs, their color and designs the same as the one in Lucina's hand, appeared around each of the oncoming Grimm. The glyphs shinned with a green glow for a brief second before massive chains shot out of each one, wrapping around the Grimm's exposed limbs and pulling tight and stopping the Grimm in their tracks.

"Wha…how did you do that?" The white haired girl from earlier asked, clearly shocked by the strange power.

"My semblance…it's ability is to bind." Lucina answered, winching as each of the Grimm pulled against their constraints and her Aura dipping in response to their strength.

But their brief loss of mobility was all the time Nuria needed. Moving to attack the Death Stalker closer to her as opposed to the one chasing Ruby, she rolled over its snapping mandibles and landed on its back, a bloodthirsty grin on her face. She drew back her mechanical arm and while the others couldn't see what she was doing from this distance Lucina was more than aware of what was going on. The second her fist struck its bone platting the piston in her fist launched forward with explosive force, shattering the bone beneath it, and a second later a panel opened up at the top of her wrist, a massive shell firing out directly into the now shattered armor, a shell that was designed to explode after a few seconds.

As Nuria leapt away from the now confused Grimm the shell that had been fired into it exploded, sending bits of Grimm flying into the air and completely removing one of its pincers.

"Woowww! That was…awesome!" an orange haired girl with a grenade launcher on her back shouted in excitement, the black haired boy next to her shushing her almost instantly.

"She missed…" Lucina said in between heavy breaths. Normally Nuria would have simply blown the entire Grimm's head to pieces, but apparently the Grimm had tried to shake her off at the last minute and had thrown off her aim, the explosive shell hitting more to the right than it should of.

But Lucina had no time to worry about that for long, as the mental strain of holding three massive Grimm back was too much for her, and the chains that had captured the creatures loosened slightly, enough for the other Death Stalker to lash out with its tail at the still immobilized Ruby. Lucina opened her mouth to warn the scythe wielder, but before she could utter a single syllable a white blur shot past her and froze the Death Stalkers tail in place. Lucina could see the two exchange a few brief words before running back over, Nuria following after them a second later.

"Lucina?" she heard Aqua say, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's clear that its taking a lot out of you to keep those Grimm bound. So you should probably release the frozen Death Stalker and the Nevermore. They aren't a threat for the moment."

Lucina nodded her head, agreeing with her partner, before removing the chains that bound them and lessening the burden on her Aura.

"Guys! That Nevermore is still circling back. What are we going to do?" Jaune pointed out with a little fear in his voice.

"There's no point dilly-dallying, our objective is right in front of us." The white haired girl pointed out as she gestured to the chess pieces on the pedestals.

"She's right, our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. We aren't here to kill a few Grimm." Ruby agreed, her voice more serious than Lucina had ever heard.

"Run and live, that's something I can get behind." Jaune instantly agreed.

"Tch…but will be missing out on some great samples." The dark green haired girl beside Nuria commented with a click of her tongue, drawing a few curious gazes from the others.

Lucina watched as Jaune, Ruby, and Aqua all stepped forward and each grabbed a piece, A knight, a rook and a bishop respectfully, before staring questioningly at Nuria. "What one did you grab?"

"Black pawn obviously." She answered like it was a matter of fact. Lucina nodding and deciding she might as well go with that one as well.

"Time we left!" The back haired boy announced, noticing that the ice and Lucina's chains were beginning to break down.

"Right, lets go!" Ruby declared before motioning for everyone to follow.

Their group moved though the forest at a decent pace, but before long they found themselves at a cliff face, the Nevermore heading them off and the two death stalkers approaching from the rear.

"There's not enough space for us to fight all of this here! We'll lead the injured one away. You all deal with the remaining two." Aqua shouted, Ruby and Jaune nodding and leading away the others towards a different ruin that stood on the other side of the clearing.

"That's probably for the best, looks like that bastards holding a little bit of a grudge." Nuria commented with a chuckle, the Death Stalker that was missing a limb barreling towards them, clearly furious at Nuria over its missing limb.

"Watch your language." Aqua warned as they started to run in between the trees, hoping to lose the enraged Grimm but failing when the Death Stalker simply chose to barrel though the trees in its pursuit.

Eventually the four found themselves at another ruin the bottom half of a tower from ancient times with a small clearing around it.

"I doubt we'll find a better place to make a stand then here." Aqua decided as she turned around and brandished her axe. "Uh…green haired girl."

"Umbra."

"Umbra, can you use that thing?" Aqua asked as she gestured to the massive rifle on her back.

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I can…I just need to anchor in so that I don't go flying." Umbra half mocked as she pulled the rife from her back, the plasma coils inside spinning up and casting a blue glow on her surroundings.

"Right…Lucina. Can you use your semblance to take Umbra to the top of that tower?" Aqua continued, receiving a nod in response. "Right, then you two post up there and wait for a chance to attack. Nuria was it? We'll wait here and hold it off while they prepare."

"Sounds good to me." Nuria replied, fishing another massive armor piercing shell from her jacket and reloading her arm, the spent shell flying away.

"Well common then quiet girl, we don't have all day." Umbra coldly declared before grabbing Lucina's arm, who promptly nodded and conjured a chain in her hand, the other end flying upwards to wrap around the tower and instantly pulling the two of them upwards like they were weightless.

A second later the Death Stalker barreled through the last of the trees, only hesitating for a moment to track down Nuria and charging forward and raising its remaining claw with a furious cry. And while Nuria raised her shield, ready to take a blow from its oversized claw, she was shocked when Aqua strolled forward casually, not even making a move to defend herself.

"Oi, what the hell's wrong with you!" Nuria warned, prepared to charge forward and tackle the suicidal girl, but before she could the claw descended, clearly intending to flatten the pink haired warrior. But before she could the claw bounced away, a blue shield appearing in midair just over her head and completely negating the force of the blow.

Aqua smiled confidently as she swiped her axe through the air, its shaft breaking apart in mid swing so that Aqua could swipe it across the Grimm's eyes, blinding it for a brief second and causing it to cry out in pain.

"Well that was interesting, I assume that was your semblance there Pinky?" Nuria asked as she rolled forward to dodge a strike from the Grimm's tail.

"Indeed, nothing in this world can break my shields." Aqua proudly declared as she gestured to the mass of blue energy, another one appearing over her other shoulder and both beginning to rotate around her. "My unbreakable will wont bend to the darkness."

"Good for you, but you really should pay attention." Nuria commented, moving forward and putting her own shield in between the Death Stalkers clicking fangs, the Grimm having tried to dart forward and chomp down on the unsuspecting huntress.

"Thank you."

"No prob…lets beat this thing down."

* * *

"…are you ready yet?" Lucina questioned Umbra, the green haired girl laying prone on the ground, her massive rifle having deployed two anchors from its bipod and bolting itself into the ground.

"I can fire whenever I want, but unless the stupid beast stops for a second I cant get a clean shot and I know from experience how painful plasma burns can be." Umbra responded in a quiet tone as she peered through the scope, focusing on the center of the Grimm's head but unable to shoot as Nuria and Aqua kept jumping through her scope.

"So you just need it to stop for a second?" Lucina clarified, a faint green rune appearing in her hand.

"That's what I said isn't it?"

"Right…get ready then." Lucina declared, a single green rune appearing over the Grimm's head. But rather than binding the Grimm like she had previously she simply dropped the massive chain directly onto its head, its massive weight striking its bony head with a massive gong.

The Death Stalker was instantly stunned by the unexpected attack, pausing and shacking its head in confusion. But that was all the time their group needed to finish the fight. Nuria and Aqua instantly leapt away while in the same moment Umbra pulled the trigger, a massive bolt of blue/white lightning streaking through the space in between and passing directly through the Death Stalkers head, killing it instantly.

Unfortunately the decrepit tower wasn't strong enough to withstand the force of bullet, the ground underneath the two Huntresses shattering the moment Umbra pulled the trigger. However Lucina had been prepared for this, reaching within the folds of her robe for a uncut wind dust crystal and unleashing its power, the stones that threatened to fall on the being blown in all other directions while she used her semblance to pull the two of them down back onto the ground.

"Good job everyone, but the others might need our help so we can't waste time." Aqua immediately declared as Lucina and Umbra swung back down, Lucina instantly placing her hands on her hips and panting heavily.

"R-right…"She stuttered, prepared to move forward despite her exhaustion but before she could take a single step she was slung over Nuria's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. All four now jogging through the woods while listening to Lucina's high pitched complaining.

But as they once again reached the clearing all they could see was the remains of the giant Nevermore falling from a cliff, Ruby standing on top of it surrounded by rose petals.

"Huh…looks like the next four years will be anything but boring." Nuria commented as she placed Lucina back on the ground, the black haired girl only nodding as she noticed Ruby waving at her.

* * *

"…Team JNPR, lead by Jaune Arc." Ozpin announced, the crowd clapping politely as the Jaune himself looked absolutely shocked.

"Well that's surprising, didn't think he would get picked for leader." Nuria commented with her arms crossed, a single eyebrow raised at what she considered a strange decision.

The moment they had returned to the cliff they had been ushered into the auditorium where the Headmaster had begun to form teams out of the partners and based off of what pieces they had chosen. They had already gone through most of the new students only a few left.

But as Jaune and his team left the stage it was time for Ruby, Yang, and their partners to take the stage.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, and Weiss Schnee." Ozpin introduced, both Nuria and Lucina reacting to the last name in particular.

 _A schnee?_ Lucina thought in a panic, quickly stealing a glance at Nuria while Ozpin announced that they would form team RWBY under Ruby's leadership. The both understood that they would have to be careful around the apparent heiress if they wanted to have a relatively uneventful year.

"And finally; Lucina Lunimare , Umbra Mayfester , Nuria Embers, and Aqua Deferia. You four retrieved the black pawn pieces…from today onwards you shall be team LUNA, lead by…Aqua Deferia." Ozpin finally announced, their newly appointed pink haired leader bowing in response. "I wish you all the best of luck. May you make these next four years as…interesting as possible."

Lucina couldn't help but gulp in nervousness as she grasped at something hidden under her dress and around her neck. Feeling like for some reason Ozpin had just cursed them to anything but peaceful days.


	4. Chapter 4

Aqua smiled as the sun barely crested the horizon, shedding a faint glimmer of light across team LUNA's dorm room. As a student of Haven's primary school she had very quickly learned from her seniors that the best way to impress their professors was to get up at the crack of dawn and prepare herself for whatever was to come that day. Even if most days it was nothing more than arduous studying and the occasional trial by combat.

And as team leader it was her duty to correct the sleeping habits of her team members, especially for their youngest member, her partner Lucina.

"Alright everyone. Its time to begin our first official day as Team LUNA. Rise and shine!" Aqua cheered on accompanied by an occasional clap.

"Uggghhh…it's too early for this." Aqua heard Nuria complain from her bed in one of the corners of the room, the curly haired girl slowly sitting up and glaring lightly at her as she subconsciously itched the division between her shoulder and mechanical arm. Aqua had been immensely impressed by the mechanical armed girl during initiation. Her instincts keeping her mostly unscathed and her mechanical arm did work wonders against the abominable Grimm.

Now if only Aqua could improve her word choice she would be an exemplary Huntress in training.

"…The darkness of the morning should never be greater than the darkness in my heart when I awaken." Nuria's partner, Umbra, all but hissed from underneath the table she had claimed as her space.

To say that Aqua had a poor first impression of the green haired sniper would be a gross understatement. The girl was, for lack of a better term, creepy. Within minutes of finding their dorm room the night before the dark obsessed girl had commandeered one of the four desks to use, as she put it, as her "Laboratory of darkness" and turned it into a miniature lab room. Her desk was already covered in beakers and test tubes…and did some of them already have fluids in them? When did she have the time for that? And Aqua could have sworn she had heard the sniper mumble something about Grimm being better bunkmates then them.

But despite her horrid personality Aqua couldn't deny her skill with her plasma rifle was worthy of a freshman at Beacon. Despite her target being in a melee with both Aqua herself and her own partner the green haired sniper had managed to accurately hit and kill the Death Stalker. She could hate her for her apparent strange hobbies all she wanted but it didn't change the fact that she was one of Aqua's teammates, and that it was her responsibility to work alongside her for at least the next four years.

But Aqua's thoughts were interrupted by a low groaning from the fourth and final member of team LUNA. Aqua's own partner Lucina Lunimare. Aqua had been impressed by the younger dust mage from the first time she had seen her use her semblance, when they were all flying through the air during the first few seconds of initiation. While spiraling through the air Aqua had been shocked to see a faded green chain shoot out of a glyph on the young girls hand and wrap around the tree that Aqua had found her sitting on, yanking her in that direction with a bored expression on her face.

 _A dust mage would be a perfect partner for my fighting style._ Aqua had thought at the time, making a beeline for the tree she had seen Lucina fly towards. And unlike her other two teammates she had no real complaints about her own partner other than a lack of knowledge about what a Huntresses strength existed for. She clearly had a powerful semblance, having been capable of binding three full grown Grimm for how long she did. She had clearly experienced combat before outside of combat school, not panicking in the slightest when the massive Grimm burst into the clearing.

Yes, Aqua had clearly lucked out with her partner and she couldn't be happier.

"Come on now Lucina, it's time to wake up and greet the day!" Aqua all but cheered as she walked over to the black haired girls bed with the intent to gently shake her awake.

"Oh wait I wouldn't-." Nuria tried to warn but was too late. Before Aqua could even touch the young girl Lucina's hand rose from under her blanket with glyph already deployed in her hand.

Aqua yelped in surprise as chains wrapped around her body and yanked her backwards, chaining her to the wall while Lucina tucked herself back in.

"Wh…wha…?" Aqua murmured in shock as Nuria sighed before chuckling slightly.

"I tried to warn you, Lucina's not great in the morning unless you have some chocolate to bribe her with." The mechanical armed student explained as she casually walked over and tried to yank the chains away. "Huh, she got you good from the looks of it. It's gonna take me a few minutes to get these off of you."

…perhaps her partner wasn't as perfect as she had originally thought.

Eventually the chains around Aqua vanished and the fourth and final member of the team rose like the living dead from her bed when Nuria walked over and pulled her up.

"Well then, since we're all conscious it's time for us to have our first official meeting as the members of Team LUNA!" Aqua announced before beginning to applaud lightly, something only Lucina followed her in. "Now then, since we didn't have much time for it last night I thought that before classes this morning we could ensure that our living space is well organized."

"Eh, that sounds like it's too much trouble. Plus Lucina and me didn't have much on us to begin with so why don't you just work with gloomy here on it?" Nuria shot down before patting Umbra on the back, said sniper scowling as she did so.

"So long as no one touches my equipment I don't care what you all do with the rest of the room. All I need is my Laboratory of Darkness." Umbra declared as she gazed dreamily at her various beakers.

"…man you must be a hoot at parties." Nuria commented, her partner whipping her head back around to glare at her.

"Now, now…Lucina what about you?" Aqua tried to defuse the situation before turning to her partner and smiling, the young girl jumping slightly at the mention of her name.

"Uh…I think it's fine if we just leave that for later since we don't have much to put away anyway." Lucina commented with a shrug.

"Very well…we shall postpone this issue until a later date." Aqua eventually relented. "Well then, on to our second manner of business-."

"Hang on a sec." Nuria interrupted with a confused expression on her face. "Now that I think about it why did you wake us up so early? I saw the schedule last night and we don't have classes till nine. So why get up at the crack of dawn just to talk about furniture?"

"Why in order to make sure we aren't late for our first day of classes of course! If we want to leave a favorable impression on our professors we have to make sure that we are present in the classroom before the first bell rings." Aqua explained like it was a matter of course. "Plus we have to make sure to get our early morning exercises in before preparing for the day."

"…So your both just hoots at parties I'm guessin'." Nuria continued to joke before a very predatory grin covered her face. "But I'm up for a good warm up before the day starts. Always nice to get the blood flowin'."

"Tch…leave me out of your team workout. I need to make sure everything's alright with my equipment."

"Alright, suit yourself. What about you Lucina?"

"…sure, why not." The dust mage replied with a shrug to Nuria's question, both turning and following Aqua out of the room and down to the plaza.

Aqua loved this time of day, where the early morning dew was still visible on the ground, leaving the air still somewhat chilly despite the first rays of the sun beginning to warm the air. There was no better time to work one's body in her humble opinion.

The three team members had decided to go with a very light workout, nothing more than a light job and some quick aerobic exercises, as they didn't want to stress themselves out too much before classes. And while Aqua had fully expected to not find a single soul out this early in the morning, her time in Haven teaching her that apparently Huntsmen and Huntresses greatly valued their sleep, never in her wildest dreams did she expect to encounter who they met on the well kept paths.

Rounding a corner in the still nearly empty courtyard, all three Huntresses in training were surprised to see the Headmaster and Vice-headmistress quietly talking to each other as they walked the grounds, the two teachers turning to stare as the three members of team LUNA came to a stop.

Aqua could see Headmaster Ozpin's eyebrows rise slightly as he smiled at the now startled students. "Well if this isn't a surprise. You're all up quite early today Team LUNA." The headmaster said simply, Goodwitch simply staring at them silently as she checked her watch.

"Y-Yes sir!"Aqua stuttered out, her voice cracking in nervousness. Here she was, a Huntress trainee, talking to one of the most well known Huntsmen on the continent if not the world. "W-we decided that it would be p-prudent to make sure we were prepared for the day in any way, shape, or form."

The Headmaster nodded in acknowledgment of Aqua's explanation before turning to her two teammates. "Miss Embers, Miss Lunimare, I was quite pleased with your respective displays of prowess during yesterdays test. I look forward to seeing more of your talents on display for the benefit of mankind."

Nuria grinned before placing her hands on her hips. "Aw, you old charmer you. But sure, keep your eyes peeled; we're just getting started after all."

Glynda raised her eyebrows at her tone, opening her mouth to berate the arrogant student, but before she could utter a single syllable Ozpin raised a hand to stop her, his smile still present.

"Well then, keep up the good work you three. And be sure to remember why exactly you're here now Miss Embers, Miss Lunimare." The Headmaster warned cryptically before the two walked away.

Despite the shock she was in, Aqua turned to her two teammates with a look of awe on their face. "You two…you two know Headmaster Ozpin?"

"Well…I wouldn't go so far as to say that we know him…but ya we've met before." Nuria explained with a somewhat sour face, like she had just tasted something that didn't quite agree with her. "He's actually the reason that we're here right now."

"Amazing…" Was all Aqua could mutter as she stared at the now retreating figures of the two most powerful figures in the academy.

 _If two of my teammates were handpicked by the Headmaster himself then I shall simply have to put forth all the more effort in order to match up with expectations. I must ensure that my family's honor is up kept._

* * *

Lucina couldn't help but groan as she watched the clock tick steadily onward, her annoyance at her first day of school growing even more noticeable as time went on. After returning to the room and taking their turns in the shower, Lucina's partner and team leader decided the best thing for them to do was to head down to the first class over thirty minutes early in order to leave a good impression on their teachers. As apparently meeting the Headmaster of the school only encouraged her to be, as Nuria had referred to it as, her trying to be the best team leader she could be.

But in their haste they had skipped breakfast, the most important meal of the day by a long shot, and had even shown up in the classroom before the professor! And while she wasn't happy on any occasion when someone woke her up, today was most certainly one of the worst mornings she had ever had in recent memory.

Aqua, having apparently heard her groaning, laughed lightly as she patted her on the shoulder. "Oh my Lucina, are you still upset by the fact that we skipped breakfast?" the older girl asked, only laughing more when Lucina nodded her head before resting it on the desk. "Well think of it this way, wont it make lunch all the better?"

"…I don't find that very comforting." Lucina returned as she kept her head on the desk, her answer being muffled slightly by her own arms.

For the next twenty minutes the Lucina talked with her teammates about almost nothing of consequence, the only noteworthy thing being when Umbra commented on Lucina's darkness, saying it was almost as beautiful as Nuria's before she was promptly bumped on the head by Nuria's still human hand. But eventually the person that Lucina could only assume was the professor walked through the door, an older gentleman with an impressive mustache and an equally as impressive belly.

"Well now this is a surprise! I would have never believed that a group of students would beat me into the classroom…if I remember correctly you are Team LUNA correct?"

"Yes sir. Team LUNA reporting for class. Ready and able to preform any task you require." Aqua responded with a slight bow, Umbra clicking her tongue in distance for their team leaders desire to put their team front and center.

"Well you're doing a splendid job, young huntresses. Keep up the good work and you will most certainly become some of the greatest students to pass through these halls!" The Professor, a man by the name of Peter Port if Lucina remembered correctly, half shouted as he took his spot behind the desk.

Lucina could practically feel the happiness emanating off of the pink haired team leader at the teacher's compliment. And while it did feel good to hear their efforts being acknowledged Lucian couldn't really care less about being an upstanding Huntress so long as she had access to their information. Although…she did think the stories her mom had told her about her time as a professional Huntress were pretty cool.

But Lucina wasn't under any delusion that she could be anything like her mother. After all, she doubted there was anyone like her in the whole world after all.

Time moved slowly onward, more and more students shuffling in as the time to the first bell approached, but Lucina still hadn't seen Ruby's or Jaune's teams despite the fact that there were only a few minutes left before class started.

 _This isn't good. Are they planning to wait till the last…hang on_. Lucina started to think to herself before pausing at a sudden realization. _Am I…looking forward to seeing Ruby and Jaune? But why?_

Before entering the school both Lucina and Nuria had agreed that they couldn't afford to grow too close to others outside their inevitable team mates. Not only did they simply have too much that most prim and proper students just wouldn't understand they also just didn't have the same motivations for being at school as the others. They were just there in order to keep Nuria out of prison, not to keep the masses safe from things that go bump in the night.

But at some point in the last two days Lucina had started to enjoy their company…which was just strange. She was going to have to figure this out before things got too complicated, and if there was anything the young chain weilder hated, it was when things got complicated. Lucina's thoughts were interrupted when two things happened in the classroom simultaneously. The final bell rang and both team RUBY and team JNPR tumbled through the door, panting heavily but still technically on time though Lucina could clearly see Professor Port giving them a disapproving stare.

Lucina watched as team RUBY took a spot in the front of the classroom with Ruby herself quickly scanning the room before noticing Lucina where they had settled in the back of the class. Lucina was about wave at the young team leader when all of the sudden Ruby was standing right in front of her, a whirlwind of rose petals swirling around her cape. Lucina couldn't help but do a double take as she stared wide eyed at the black haired scythe wielder, her mind not keeping up with what had just happened.

"Heya Lucina!" Ruby greeted warmly, not even waiting for a response before continuing. "So…do you want to sit up with me? I mean if you really don't want to its fine but I was ya know just thinking that you might want to sit with someone your own age ya know?" she continued on, asking her questions in rapid fire.

 _…huh?_

"Oh she'd love too, right Lucina?" Nuria answered for her with a laugh clearly held back.

Lucina opened her mouth to reply, attempting to explain that she felt more comfortable around her team for the moment, but Ruby all but squealed at receiving some form of permission to abscond with the confused black haired dust mage and, before Lucina could utter a single word, she felt a grip on her arm and her surroundings suddenly blurred and she was sitting in the very front of the classroom, with Ruby on one side and the Schnee heiress on the other.

 _Was that…teleportation…no…acceleration?_ Lucina tired to make sense of what happened as she looked back at her old seat to see Nuria waving at her, Aqua half pouting, and Umbra already asleep at her desk.

 _Well…looks like I've been abandoned to my fate…_ Lucina grimly thought with a sigh as she smiled nervously at Ruby, the scythe wielder grinning back instantly before taking her seat.

It was at that point that Professor Port started to monologue about his class, Grimm Studies, and launched into a tale of his many exploits during his younger years. And throughout it all Lucina couldn't help but be enamored by his tales. Not only was this entire experience completely knew to her, as Lucina had never actually been in a classroom before, but the Professor's tale was actually pretty informative. Who knew that Beowolf's had such an aversion to cabbage and, even without taking into consideration the most common Grimm's understandable distaste for the strange vegetable, the portly professor still revealed that a Beowolf's back legs were generally stronger than their front arms due to the way they moved. Lucina couldn't help but be a little annoyed at the fact that it had taken her so long to discover the benefits of classroom based learning rather than just trying to understand what her mom was trying to get across during their travels.

But apparently not all of her surrounding students shared her newly discovered joy of class. Ruby was currently drawing a picture of Professor Port that was anything but flattering. Yang looked like she was just about to fall asleep, her head dipping forward occasionally as she struggled to keep her head up.

The other two members didn't seem to be doing all that well either. Weiss Schnee looked like she was about to explode in anger, her left eye twitching occasionally as she glared past Lucina at Ruby who was oblivious to said stare. And the other girl…Blake if Lucina recalled correctly, looked bored beyond compare. But now that Lucina got a good look at her there was something strange about her aura.

Normally when Lucina got a good look at someone's aura said aura clung to their bodies fairly tightly unless they were someone with the potential to be a dust mage, like the Schnee heiress or Vice-headmistress Goodwitch, but Blake's dark purple aura was somehow outlining the small black bow on the top of her head. Was it some kind of dust infused cloth? Or was it just some kind of abnormality with her aura? But even as she was thinking it Lucina knew that neither of those two options made much sense. In fact, the only reason the young dust mage could think of that would make Aura do that would be if she had actual body parts under her bow, but if she had those then that meant...

 _Oh…I get it...wonder why she hides them?_ Lucina couldnt help but think as she narrowed her eyes at the bow.

But while Lucina was staring that the black haired girl something must have happened in the room, as the Schnee heiress's hand shot into the air.

"I do sir!" the white haired girl shouted as she glared again at Ruby.

"Excellent! Then let us see what your opponent shall be." Professor Port declared as he moved to stand next to a cage on the side of the room. Said metal contraption shacking violently as the Grimm inside attempted to escape.

"Gooo Weiss!" Yang shouted as her teammate took her place in the front of the class, a rapier in her hand.

"Fight well!" "Yeah, represent team RWBY!" Blake and Ruby shouted respectfully, cheering on the heiress.

But for some reason Weiss was only mad at Ruby for interrupting her concentration, the white haired girl turning and glaring at her the moment she finished speaking. "I'm trying to focus Ruby."

"Oh…sorry." The black haired girl apologized, looking hurt by Weiss's curt tone.

From there the Professor released a Boarbatusk for the girl to fight, and while she it couldn't really be said that she did poorly in battle for some reason the girl was very combative with Ruby whenever the girl offered her advice, something Lucina found odd but didn't comment on. The class ended practically the moment that the heiress drove her blade through the Grimm's unprotected underbelly, Professor Port assigning them each reading on Ursa and the difference between an Ursa minor and Ursa Major.

"Well that was…strange. That white haired girl was quite combative with her leader for someone planning to become a Huntress." Aqua commented afterwards when they had all found themselves in the cafeteria.

"Team drama isn't exactly a shocking thing for a first day. They must learn to deal with their darkness instead of being consumed by it." Umbra half murmured as she piled her tray with meat.

"Do you purposely try and make everything you say so…weird?" Lucina asked as she loaded her own tray with chocolate pastries.

"…A little." The sniper admitted with a shrug. "One with a position such as mine must maintain a level of…flair."

"Huh…that actually explains so much." Nuria commented as they took their seats by themselves.

"But at the very least our team will not deal with such trivial issues right?" Aqua asked hopefully, Nuria and Lucina giving her pained smiles in return while Umbra simply ignored the question entirely. The team leader looked around for a brief second before continuing on, apparently not wanting to push the issue right then and there. "So do we all have the same schedule to the end of the day?"

"Looks like it, "Huntsmen and Huntresses History" with Doctor Oobleck and Combat Training with Headmistress Goodwitch." Umbra read off before smiling creepily. "Good, a chance to bash my darkness against those of other trainees, this will be exhilarating."

"Right…but ya, that's what our schedules look like too." Nuria agreed as she gestured to Aqua as well, the team leader nodding in confirmation.

But to the surprise of the three older girls their youngest member held up her hand with a nervous expression. "Actually…I have another class after that."

"Wait what! Why? What is it?" Nuria questioned as she leaned over the table and snatched Lucina's schedule from her hands, the other two leaning over her shoulders to see as well. "…Dust Studies? What class is that?"

"Uh…I was told it was a class for Dust Mages or those who use Dust in excess." Lucina explained as she took back her schedule, her brow furrowed as she stared down at her unique schedule.

"huh…well I guess that makes sense, someone's got to teach you Dusties about how to make things go boom." Nuria eventually relented with a shrug.

"Although I can't say I'm too happy about missing out on more Huntress training I suppose there's nothing I can do about something that requires a certain level of talent…oh well." Aqua agreed before smiling at Lucina. "Make sure to pay close attention Lucina so as not to bring shame on our team."

"…I don't really see how I could shame us on the first day of class but ok, I'll be careful." Lucina agreed, sending a quick glance at Nuria in order to assure the one armed Huntress that she would be careful in more ways than one.

"Excellent, then let us dig in…h-how?" Aqua cheerily said as before looking down at Lucina's plate and noticing it was already empty, the only sign that there had been food there to begin with being a slight smug of chocolate in the corner of Lucina's mouth.

"U-uh…I eat really fast." Lucina flinched and explained at the shocked looks from both Aqua and Umbra.

"Your darkness consumed the offerings with such speed that even I couldn't detect it…how strange...how beautiful."Umbra gushed, Nuria biting her metal hand in order to keep from cackling and drawing even more attention to their little group.

* * *

Lucina stood outside the door to Dust Studies with a nervous expression. The other classes had gone well, the History class in particular being one of Lucina's favorites while the sparing class was mostly just a rest as she hadn't been one of the chosen combatants. But now she was all on her own and standing outside a class she was going to have to attend completely alone.

"Well…I guess I might as well go in." Lucina finally decided with a sigh and pushed to door open to see her last class of the day… and was surprised by what she saw inside.

Most of the classrooms Lucina had been in that day were massive, the seats arranged like seats in a stadium while the teacher stood below their students and lectured up at them. This room however was a lot smaller than any other room she had been in and rather than rows of desks instead the room was organized into tables spaced out in a seemingly random order. Lucina could see canisters of each and every dust color imaginable in the back of the room, including a few combinations of dust along with uncut dust crystals gleaming in the dim light.

"Ah, I see the last first year has arrived. Right on time Miss…" The older woman in the front of the room, a teacher with faded pink hair and a warm smile on her face.

"Lucina Ma'am, Lucina Lunimare." Lucina introduced herself as she looked around the classroom to look at her classmates. She could see a few clearly older students looking back at her, clearly assessing her ability, and could even see a brown haired rabbit Faunus in the back corner of the room nervously glancing at her before looking away.

"Ah Lunimare, I have heard quite a bit about you from Glynda. I am Professor Peach and I am one of the two teachers of Dust Studies along with Professor Goodwitch." The older woman introduced herself before gesturing to one of the tables. "Well then, take your spot with our other new addition and I will begin our introductions."

Lucina nodded and began to walk farther into the dark room before stopping and staring in shock at her desk mate, the same white haired huntress she had been sitting with earlier that day, Weiss Schnee.

To be fair Lucina didn't dislike the Heiress as a person, but as one half of The Phantom Thieves of Manara they had…acquired more than a little of her companies dust. They had seen plenty of times that her father had put a bounty out on their heads before Ozpin apprehended them and brought them into fold. They couldn't risk them finding out about their presence in Beacon or not even the Headmaster would be able to keep them out of trouble.

And well…if she was being entirely honest with herself she wasn't exactly ok with how badly she had treated Ruby earlier, despite the fact that Lucina didn't consider herself anything more than acquaintance with the young scythe wielder.

But luckily for Lucina the white haired girl didn't even look up from the table when Lucina approached, her eyes staring off into the distance as she clearly was working out something.

"Well then, you old timers might not want to hear this but for our two newcomers this is Dust Studies, a class designed to polish the skills of young dust mages. For many of our fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses dust is simply something they place in their weapons in order to shoot at the Grimm. But for a dust mage dust is an extension of ourselves, a way to change the world in ways that those who lack this talent can never understand." Professor Peach began, slowly pacing around the front of the class as she spoke. "Many of you came here knowing how to use dust beforehand, or maybe you simply have a semblance that allows you to manipulate dust in a way that others cannot. Regardless this class is designed to teach you the deepest secrets of the past."

"That…or you will simply find new ways to blow yourself and your surroundings to kingdom come. Either one is fine with me." Peach continued, the few students in the class laughing slightly at her joke and Lucina cracking a small, polite smile. "Anyway, today we will be focusing on identifying and combining the proper amounts of red and blue dust in order to create purple dust. Otherwise known as Gravity Dust." The teacher continued as she began moving from table to table, placing two small trays of dust on each workplace. "Work with your table to create as much gravity dust as possible with as little leftovers as possible. I will be here if you require aid at any time…well then, get to work!" and with that the few students in the class started their assignments, measuring out precise amounts of dust.

Lucina turned to Weiss, trying to think about what to say to her but instead found the girl still staring off into the distance with the same depressed look on her face. _Ugh…this is going to be a pain._ The black haired girl grimaced as she gently tapped the other first year on the shoulder, Weiss instantly reacting by whipping her head around to stare at her in shock.

"Uh…the teacher told us to work on making gravity dust. Is that…ok with you?" Lucina slowly asked, not really sure how to interact with the fellow dust mage.

"Of course it is. It's our assignment after all." The white haired girl said with a huff as she pulled the trays of dust forward and started to work, but stopped after a few seconds to stare at Lucina with a curious expression. "Say…weren't you the one who used those chains in Initiation and sat next to me this morning?...Lunimare correct?"

"Y-yes, I'm Lucina…nice to meet you." Lucina nervously introduced herself, her table mate simply making a "humph." noise in response.

"You appeared to have some skill during Initiation and I suppose you did prove yourself to be at the very least dutiful during class this morning…very well, I will acknowledge you as a fellow dust mage and my peer." The heiress finally seemed to come to a conclusion before staring down at the table. "You said we were to work on creating gravity dust? Ha…what a waste of time for someone with my background. I assume that with skills like yours you at the very least know how to do this as well?"

"Uh…actually I mainly deal with dust crystals for attacking since my weapon doesn't have any dust cylinders." Lucina admitted, the Heiress narrowing her eyes in response.

"Hoh?...so your actually telling me that rather than the precise nature of dust powder you use the unpredictable crystals instead?"

"U-uh…"

"Very well, then I, the second daughter of the Schnee family, will teach you how to properly combine dust." The white haired girl continued, not without a bit of pride creeping into her voice.

The two worked together after that, or more precisely Weiss worked while Lucina watched and tried to understand what exactly she was doing. But the entire time Lucina couldn't help but notice the frustrated expression on the girls face, her mind still clearly elsewhere.

And eventually Lucina's curiosity got the better of her. "Ummm, sorry for asking this…but is something wrong? You look like your trying to figure out a math problem."

"Surely you understand that What we're doing here is essentially math right?...but is suppose you do have a point." Weiss first chastised then sighed. "It the accursed Dunce."

"…Dunce?"

"Ah my partner, Ruby Rose. She just so…idiotic!" The girl half shouted as she clenched her hand, a few of the classmates turning slightly at the noise but quickly losing interest in the freshmen. "She's immature, she refuses to pay attention, and she's clumsy and reckless and…and she just such a dunce!"

"Ah…"

"I just can't help but feel frustrated with some like her as not only my partner but as my team leader as well." Weiss continued before staring at Lucina with a critical eye. "If anything I would have preferred someone like you as my partner. Not only were you taking diligent notes in such a boring class but you clearly have more of your act together. It's just…frustrating."

"Your pretty frank you know that?" Lucina commented blankly before flinching under Weiss's half glare. "But don't you think your being a little harsh on her? It's only the first day after all. Isn't it just possible she's just really nervous with everything?"

"…She was picking her nose in the middle of class."

"…Ya I can't really defend that." Lucina admitted with a sigh before continuing. "B-but…"

"You're correct. Professor Port told me essentially the same thing earlier today." Weiss admitted with a sigh. "I suppose I am being too hard on the Dunce…but still."

"Miss Lunimare is correct Miss Schnee." Professor Peach commented with a chuckle as she approached the table. "You must learn to place yourself in others shoes if you want to learn how to be the best team member you can be."

"I understand. Professor Port gave me quite the talking to after all." Weiss relented with a wince.

"I apologize on my colleagues' behalf. He never really was a subtle person." Professor Peach replied with another chuckle.

"Well an axe on the end of a blunderbuss doesn't leave much to the imagination does it?" Weiss returned, both laughing slightly at the man's choice of weapon.

Lucina was about to join them when a thought came to her and her brow scrunched in concentration. A look Weiss was quick to pick up on.

"What is wrong with you now Lucina?"

"Well…I was just thinking. Isn't it actually better for you that Ruby's so immature?"

"…Hoh? And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"W-well…it's just that with her being younger than you and your teammate you can work to make her into your ideal partner." Lucina explained slowly, trying to put into words what she was feeling. "I mean, you do have four years to work with her. Isn't that enough time to mold her more to your liking?"

Lucina couldn't help but flinch at the wide eyed stares she was getting from both Professor Peach and Weiss the moment she finished speaking. But Weiss's shocked look quickly turned into what could only be described as a villainous smile

"Who knew that such a quite looking girl could come up with such a devious plan. I think the two of us will be more than capable of working together from here on out." The Heiress commented with a dark laugh.

 _Did I…did I just do something bad to my kind of friend?_ Lucina inadvertently thought she quite literally saw the gears in the white haired girl's head start to turn. _…Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine._ Lucina eventually decided as she turned back to her assignment and tried to figure out how exactly to combine dust without using her semblance to do it.

All in all, not a bad first day of school considering that it was her first day of school ever.

* * *

Ozpin frowned as he looked at the virtual report that had been sent to his office, the sun having set long ago to the point that even Glynda had retired for the night, leaving Ozpin with nothing but his thoughts and the rhythmic clicking of the gears that surrounded him.

The report on his screen contained information about another dust store having been robbed during broad daylight and this one wasn't fortunate enough to have a Huntress in training to protect it. Once again the store had been cleared of all dust but the thieves didn't even take a single Lien.

The authorities couldn't make heads or tails of it, thieves leaving the money and just taking the goods, but Ozpin easily saw through everything that was happening. Someone was preparing for something big, and that much dust couldn't be used for anything else but unchecked destruction.

Sighing as he rubbed his forehead Ozpin swiveled in his chair until he was looking out over his school and the gently rolling hills behind it. It was painfully obvious that the Queen was preparing for something, but with Qrow deployed in Mistral he lacked someone who could work in the shadows. Sure, he could easily bring down the hammer by deploying a Huntsmen team to flush out the thieves but that wouldn't solve the issue and if there was one thing that warriors trained to fight the Grimm lacked it was subtle.

But at the same time he couldn't do nothing in response. The Queen was making her opening moves in their new game, meaning he was already a step behind.

"But that still leaves me without a piece to play." Ozpin murmured as he turned back to read another report, this time from Professor Peach. The report spoke of the two new Dust studies students having at the very least the minimum level of talent for the class but Lucina Lunimare lacked any knowledge of dust combinations, something that would have to be rectified soon enough.

Normally Ozpin wouldn't be that interested in a single student's progress but when it came to Dust Mages he tended to give them a little more attention. Dust Mages were after all a being that only existed in one out of every hundred Huntsmen and Huntresses, marking them as exceedingly rare and quite powerful in the eyes of the four schools.

And when it came to some of the legends of Remnant Dust Mages had a certain…affinity that others lacked.

And then it hit him. He did have a piece to play, or to be more specific two pieces.

But at the same time he loathed the idea of putting his students in danger before they were prepared for the world, or at the very least ready to stand against the darkness.

"I'm sorry Miss Lunimare, Miss Embers…but I can't afford to do nothing so early into the fight. You may hate me for this but I will have to have you once again walk back into the darkness of Vale." Ozpin apologized as he stood from his desk and made his way to the elevator, not looking forward to the conversation he was going to have tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucina's eyes shot open the moment she felt first rays of dawn heat her face, a wide smile on her lips despite it being earlier than any living creature should ever be conscious. Under normal circumstances Lucina would still be in the throngs of her always well deserved rest but today was different, today was special.

Today was the first day of after a full week of classes.

No longer would she have to listen to professors' talk, even if the contents of their lectures were interesting. No longer would she have to be woken up at the crack of dawn because her partner and team leader wanted to conduct teambuilding exercises. No more need to endure her hyperactive acquaintance, Ruby having talked her ear off every single time they met or shared a class.

No, today was a day of peace and quiet, the kind of day that Lucina lived for.

Shooting out of her bed with the fury of a thousand suns, Lucina grinned happily at the thoughts of her plans for the day. Ever since she had arrived at the academy she had wanted nothing more than to just pick a corner of the library and start working her way through it. Never before in her life had she seen as many books as the Library at Beacon contained within.

 _And who knows…maybe one of those books has what I'm looking for inside._ The black haired girl thought in near glee as she changed out of her dark blue pajamas and readied herself for the day.

"Oh? Good morning Lucina, you certainly got out of bed fast today. Any plans?" The younger girl heard Aqua ask from her desk in the corner of the room, a pair of wide rimmed glasses on her face as she smiled at her. Lucina had learned pretty early on in one of their studying sessions that Aqua was actually somewhat nearsighted, requiring the use of glasses for studying or reading. However the glasses only made her more intimidating somehow, something Nuria described as the "Librarian effect".

"mmm…I'm going to the library to read." Lucina replied as she looked around the room for the other two team members, seeing that both had vanished before Lucina had woken up. "Nuria and Umbra are already gone? They must have gotten up pretty early then."

"No, you just slept in later than anyone should be allowed to sleep. You are aware that it's already past ten in the morning correct?" Aqua immediately refuted with a patient smile on her face.

"Ah…do you know where they went?"

"Umbra mentioned something about needing some more supplies for her…"corner of darkness" or whatever she calls it, while Vice-headmistress Goodwitch called for Nuria earlier.

"Oh, that's…cool I guess." Lucina replied with a shrug. She was somewhat worried for her partner-in-crime but if worst came to worst they could just run like they always did. But at that moment books were of much greater importance to her than remaining inconspicuous at Beacon.

"Ok well I'm off. Have fun studying." Lucina said as she made for the door, opening it to find her one armed teammate right on the other side, leaning on the doorframe. And despite the fact that she should feel happy to see Nuria Lucina couldn't help but flinch at the cruel grin on the older girls face.

"Oh? You're up early today Lucina...going somewhere?" The brown haired girl asked in a tone that sent shivers down Lucina's spine.

"U-uh…yea…I was going to library and uh…I was going to read…so bye!" Lucina stuttered before trying to move underneath Nuria's arm and make a run for it.

However the mechanical armed girl was faster, her metallic arm lashing out and grabbing Lucina by the back of her shirt and lifting her into the air, the black haired girl flailing the entire time.

"Sorry Lucina, but apparently our illustrious Headmaster wants to talk to us right away or something like that so come on." Nuria said with a laugh as she began to drag Lucina in the exact opposite direction.'

"Noooo…the library…the boookkkss!" Lucina cried out as she struggled against her captor, the older woman completely ignoring both her vain struggles and cries of agony.

* * *

It wasn't ten minutes later that the two former thieves found themselves ridding an evaluator up into the tallest tower in Beacon, Lucina glaring at the wall with a pout on her lips while Nuria simply stared up at the ceiling with an exasperated look.

"Look, I get it; you wanted to read all day. But what the hell was I supposed to do? Ignore the guy who holds our chains?"

"…yes if it means I get to read." Lucina instantly replied, Nuria flinching in annoyance as she did so.

"Alright fine, I'll get you some chocolate later on ok, so just put the books aside for now."

"…Deal."

Nuria laughed at that before staring at the doors and frowning once again. "But still, why does Ozpin have to have his office at the very top of the C.C.T? Seems a little bit on the arrogant side if you ask me."

"…Maybe he just likes to look down on people?" Lucina commented as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open to reveal a very amused looking Headmaster.

"I suppose that could be the reason, although if I may say so myself I simply enjoy standing in front of large planes of glass with my hands behind my back." The white haired Huntsmen commented in a clearly amused tone of voice, Lucina tacking a step back in horror at the thought of inadvertently insulting one of the most powerful men alive.

"I…uh…I d-didn't." The black haired girl tried to stutter out an apology but couldn't quite form the words, Nuria outright snorting in laughter at Lucina's flustered attitude while Ozpin continued to simply smile patiently.

But to her credit it didn't take Lucina too long to recover her wits and the three took on a much more serious attitude, Ozpin returning to his seat while Lucina and Nuria remained standing on the other side of his desk as apparently the man had something against offering his guests somewhere to sit.

"So then, have you two enjoyed your first week at my school?" Ozpin began, Nuria scowling slightly at his question.

"Look, Headmaster. Can I just be frank with you?" she asked, continuing only after Ozpin nodded once. "You can skip the pleasantries. If you wanted to talk to us about school you wouldn't bother having us come all the way up here to talk. So what exactly do you need from us?"

"…How sharp of you Miss Embers. Very well…there is indeed something I need you two to do for me, or more accurately, for Vale itself."

"Oh how grand. So what do you require from these two humble thieves?"

"I require thievery." Ozpin answered simply, much to the confusion of the two Huntresses-in-training. "Are you aware of the streak of Dust shop robberies that have been taking place within Vale these last few months?"

"No but that isn't exactly that crazy is it? Dust is pretty useful after all and people do like paying large amounts for it." Nuria commented with a shrug. "We've gone after more than our fair share of dust shipments in the past so I can't really see the big deal."

"Can you still say it isn't strange that these robbers are only targeting Vale based dust stores and in each case the perpetrators left all the stores Lien intact?" Ozpin returned with a single raised eyebrow.

"…Alright that's a little more strange." Nuria admitted, frowning in concentration as she tried to think of why any halfway decent thief would leave money behind. "…maybe they're just Dust enthusiasts?"

"While I appreciate your help in trying to deduce their motives that is not what I require of you." Ozpin commented before standing and staring at the two girls with a deadly serious expression, his aura flaring in response to such a degree that Lucina couldn't help but take a step backwards. "I would like you two to put your…skills into practice and discover what exactly the criminal underbelly of Vale intends to do with so much dust."

Lucina couldn't help but stare at the Headmaster in shock, with both her mouth and eyes wide open in surprise. Nuria on the other hand had almost the exact opposite reaction, her eyes narrowed slightly while her sole remaining human fist was clenched so tightly that it was turning pale.

"So let me get this straight." She all but growled out as she glared at the Ozpin, the older Huntsmen returning her furious gaze without even twitching. "First you arrest us, then you pull us into your stupid school, and then you want us to go back into the same thing you stopped us from doing? Do I have the gist of it?"

"Just about yes, although I will still require you to attend your classes so you will have to put off your thievery until the weekends." Ozpin retuned.

"Now listen hear you bas-." Nuria started to yell but was quickly cut off by Ozpin, the man's voice remaining even despite the anger in the room.

"No, you need to understand something. You two are only free from the shackles from the law due to my good graces. Until the day you leave these halls as true Huntresses your lives belong to me and I will use you as I see fit." Ozpin paused then, an almost melancholy look overcoming his face for a brief second before continuing. "I do not take pleasure in ordering you to investigate the evil within our borders but I cannot afford to ignore assets as useful as you two."

Ozpin's office was deadly quiet for a brief second, Lucina staring at each in turn with a look of both panic and fear while Nuria glared daggers at the white haired man for over a minute before closing her eyes and sighing in defeat.

"…One thing I have to make clear first. If things get bad, or someone figures out our association with you, me and Lucina here won't hesitate to run for the hills. Even if that means being wanted for the rest of our lives, understand?"

Ozpin regarded the brown haired warrior for a moment before nodding and smiling slightly. "Fair enough, far be it for me to deprive the world of two future Huntresses."

The tense atmosphere seemed to evaporate with that, Nuria frowning slightly in concentration. "So do you have anything at all for us to go off of? Vale's not exactly small or filled with nothing but upstanding citizens."

"I'm afraid I don't have much, only that eyewitnesses report the White Fang being involved." Ozpin replied as he sat down once again, the faint smile he always seemed to wear once again on his face.

"Oh great, so we have racists to deal with too, awesome." Nuria commented with yet another sigh. "…is that all then? We've got stuff various nefarious stuff to do in your name after all."

"…Will you be able to find them?" Ozpin questioned before taking a sip of coffee.

"Oh no, you're not getting any promise of results out of us. You get what we can get, nothing more nothing less…so we done?"

Ozpin leaned back in his chair as he studied the two girls, his expression unreadable. "Yes I suppose we are so long as you are aware that I expect a report within the month. You are dismissed." He declared, continuing to watch as Nuria grabbed Lucina's hand and led her to the elevator, Lucina saying nothing more but bowing her head in respect before the elevator doors shut tight.

"Well that was certainly refreshing." Ozpin commented to the air as he stared up at the massive gears that made up his office. It had been a long time since a student had spoken to him like that…although perhaps he did have it coming.

But nevertheless he had no choice but to make use of their unique talents, even if it meant making use of his students. "Be careful Miss. Embers. If you can't find the truth then there may not be a safe place left to flee to when the dust settles."

* * *

Lucina couldn't help but stare at the floor as the airship gently lifted into the air, her form swaying slightly as she tried to right herself.

She could tell that Nuria was pissed, close to exploding actually, but Lucina couldn't think of a single thing to say. At the end of the day Nuria never truly enjoyed their previous life unless they were targeting the rich, as they were the ones who could afford to be robbed. Lucina knew that Nuria would have preferred to just settle down somewhere and start her life over after…that day and it was all Lucina's fault that they had to keep resorting to such desperate measures.

If Lucina…if she didn't exist than Nuria could be happy.

Opening her mouth to say something, to say anything, Lucina looked up at Nuria only to squeak in surprise when the older girl placed a gentle hand on her head, lightly ruffling her hair in a way that reminded Lucina of her long lost mother.

"Geez, can you believe that guy? The nerve of him…but oh well. At least we can buy some more awesome looking cloaks this time. Those ratty old things always pissed me off." The brown haired girl angrily complained before smiling down at Lucina.

"You're…not angry at me?"

Nuria stopped smiling at that, looking down at Lucina with a confused look. "Why would I be? It's not like you came to me with the idea of some grand heist or something."

Lucina couldn't help but stare down at the floor before continuing. "But…your always getting mad for my sake…and I…" but before she could continue Nuria removed her hand only to poke Lucina in the center of her forehead, the younger girl pouting slightly as she rubbed the spot.

"Hey now, don't go getting all depressed on me. We already have the embodiment of darkness on our team after all." Nuria chastised with a frown. "Look, you and I both know that I would prefer not to do this but just like what that white haired bastard did to us you get to do to me. It doesn't matter whether or not I like what we do; I just have to do it. I would be dead if it wasn't for you after all." Nuria finished, her eyes no longer staring at Lucina, her brown orbs gaining a distant and sorrowful look for a brief second before it faded and Nuria was once again smiling down at her. "Besides, it's not like it'll be that hard for us, we are the Twin Phantoms after all."

Lucina couldn't help but smile at that and nod in agreement as the airship reached its port, the two girls quickly stepping outside into the city proper. "So then what do we do now?" the black haired dust mage questioned as they started to walk down the street with no real destination in mind.

"Well two major things." Nuria started as she gazed into the sky. "I plan to go get in touch with our old contacts. Let'em know that we're working in Vale now. And you…"

Lucina couldn't help but gulp at the fact that Nuria just trailed off with an almost haunted expression on her face. "I-I'll?"

"You're going to go find us somewhere to work." The older girl finished with an evil grin.

"…Huh?"

"It's simple really; if we're going to be coming down to Vale every weekend to steal shit we need a good reason to come down here all the time." Nuria started to explain. "Plus Goodwitch was telling me that while we don't have to pay for room or board at Beacon they aren't going to be giving us any spending money. So if we want to have more than one outfit or…really anything we need some spending money so it's a two birds one stone kinda thing get it?"

"Uh, I guess. But where are we supposed to work?"

"That's for you to decide!" Nuria replied with a bombastic laugh before beginning to sprint off into the crowd. "Good luck Luci!"

"Nuria!" Lucina tried to call out but her partner in crime was already gone, having disappeared into the crowd before Lucina could bind her in place. "...Now what?"

Now abandoned in a city she knew nothing about, Lucina slowly started to make her way through the many twists and turns of the city, looking for any sign of a help wanted sign or anything that would work as a base of operations for them. Unfortunately it looked like the airship they had chosen to take into town was one of the few that were bound for the industrial district of Vale as opposed to…well, any other district. And as such the only jobs that Lucina could find were manual labor jobs or assembly line jobs. Neither being things that would work well for their real line of work, although Lucina was fairly certain that Nuria would enjoy showing off her mechanical arm to all the construction workers that dotted the area.

"Sorry kid, but no one 'round these parts is gonna hire two little girls to do heavy lifting." A manager of the most recent assembly line Lucina visited replied with a wave of his hand. "You'd have better luck in the commercial district across the river ya'know?"

"Oh I see…well thank you for the help." Lucina replied with a bow before quickly making her escape, the molten metal splashing behind the man making her nervous.

 _Now that I think about it did Nuria even say that she wanted me to set up shop in the southern district?_ Lucina thought to herself as she tried to figure out where exactly she was, the buildings all beginning to look the same after so many hours of walking around. _I should just go north like the guy said. Plus…there should be chocolate up there._

And with that Lucina started to make her way north with renewed purpose. But before she could make it more than a few blocks the sound of flesh striking flesh reached her ears and she couldn't help but stop and scan her surroundings, the many years of living out on the road conditioning her to investigate such noises.

And after rounding a corner and peering down an alley Lucina discovered the source of the noise, a source that caused her blood to run cold.

Inside the dark alley were the forms of four burly, disgusting thugs. The smell of alcohol on the air around them. While at their feet was a fifth form, a form of an older woman with two massive gray ears on the side of her head.

"Damn dirty Faunus!" One of the men spat out angrily as he kicked the woman mercilessly in the side of her stomach, the woman's body twitching at the impact but otherwise not making a sound. "Why cant you and your kind just shove off! No one wants ya around here!"

"Gay ha ha…what da ya expect man? It's an animal not a person, they can't know their place cuse their too stupid to know anything!" Another man added in, the whole group of drunkards throwing their heads back to howl with laughter. "I doubt the rat knows what's going on half the time, probably just looks for the next piece of cheese to nibble on!"

"Ya! Ya'r right! Then why don't we "teach" her where her kind belongs!" yet another yelled as he too tried to kick at the Faunus's unmoving form.

However his foot never reached its destination. His body freezing to a stop just before he made contact. The man's face scrunched in confusion and concentration as he tried to make sense of the situation but couldn't even begin to figure things out through his drunken haze.

"Whazat?" he slurred as he struggled against the thick chains that were now wrapped around his entire body and the bodies of his compatriots. Immobilizing them to such a degree that they appeared more like puppets rather than humans.

Another of the drunken men opened his mouth to yell at the chains but before he could utter a single syllable he and all three of his companions were yanked into the air with such speed that they couldn't breath before being yanked in an arc and landing with a meaty thunk as they hit the street.

"…Leave…now." The four men heard a young girl threaten in a cold voice, each of them looking up to see a young girl in a blue dress glaring at them with a look that would possibly cause full grown Grimm to stop in their tracks. However, in their drunken haze the men were completely unable to fell the fear that most living creatures would at the girl's quiet fury, and were also unable to figure out the fact that the girl was responsible for their brief trip through the sky. All they knew was that someone was getting in their way and that was all they cared about.

"HUH?! You some damn Faunus lover or something kid? Go back to your mommy before you get hurt!" One of the men shouted as he rushed forward and tried to knock the kid out of the way.

However once again the man's fist never even came close to hitting its target, as the chains once again returned to wrap his limbs and immobilize him. This time however the man managed to notice a green rune hovering just over the kid's hand, and his drunken mind finally managed to put two and two together. "Y-you're a dust mage?!"

"Perhaps I wasn't being very clear so let me give you a stronger message this time." Lucina continued in the same dark tone as she casually held out the hand with the rune, her palm open and upturned like she was holding something. The man's flight or fight instincts finally kicked in at that point and he tried to get his arm out of its restraints but to no avail, the chains refusing to budge even against his considerable strength.

And then Lucina closed her palm, and with a sickening crunch the chains around the man's arm tightened to the point where something, if not everything, inside his once proud arm was shattered.

The man screamed bloody murder as the chains once again whipped him through the air and slammed him against one of the nearby buildings, his cries turning into whimpers as he realized he was powerless to move. The other drunks quickly sobered up at the sound of their companion's cries and stared wide eyed at the vengeful and powerful dust mage that stood before them.

"Take your friend and don't ever let me see you again. Are we clear?" Lucina questioned and, upon receiving a nod from each of the uninjured men, released her captive. She watched as they quickly scurried to retrieve the man before sprinting away with as much speed as their drunken legs could manage all four quickly vanishing behind another building.

Lucina watched their aura's fade from view before finally relaxing and letting the rune above her hand vanish into thin air. She didn't even remotely feel any sympathy for the man whose arm she broke, as racists like them were one of the few people she just couldn't stand. Sure, it was possible that they would go to the authorities with what she had done to them but this was hardly the first time Lucina had dealt with scum like them. Without the courage that alcohol gave them they wouldn't do anything.

And if they did…then she would simply punish them even more than she did just now.

But Lucina had no more time to worry about the ruffians, as she could hear groaning from behind her. Turning around Lucina could see the Faunus woman rising unsteadily to her feet, groaning all the while.

"A-are you alright?" Lucina asked in a panic as she ran over, the woman turning to smile at her and gave Lucina her first good look at the person she had saved. She was an older woman, defiantly past the prime of her life but not so old that she had to worry about breaking a hip on a bad fall. She was only a few inches taller than Lucina herself and was a little rounder than most people that Lucina had seen in Vale so far. The vulgar drunks had been correct in identifying her Faunus heritage, as the two massive gray ears that flopped down from both sides of her face were pink on the inside and twitched slightly as she likely picked up on something Lucina would never be able to hear.

The woman turned to smile widely at Lucina as the black haired girl approached. Her aura, just barely visible around her form marking her as someone without formal training, gray and just as warm as the woman's smile.

"Oh I'm fine my dear, I may not be as young as I used to be but I've dealt with my fair share of ruffians before." The woman replied as she dusted off her brown dress. "Oh but where are my manners. My name is Cinza Chokola, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mmm…Lucina Lunimare." Lucina replied as she carefully watched Cinza stand, and was therefore ready when the older woman lost her footing and almost fell back down, Lucina quickly throwing Cinza's arm over her shoulder so she could hold up the Faunus, the older woman's weight almost too much for Lucina to hold up as her legs began to bend under the weight.

"Oh my, it looks like I'm still a little shocked by what happened." Cinza commented with a chuckle, Lucina staring at her like she was going insane.

"…you're taking your beating very well."

"You get used to it after being a Faunus for so long." The mouse Faunus explained with a sigh. "I hate to impose anymore on my savior but would you mind lending me your shoulder until I can get back to my store?"

"Um, I guess so. But if it's in the commercial district then we might just want to take an airship there." Lucina agreed with reservations, not really all that pleased at the prospect of lifting the woman all the way across town.

"Don't worry Lucina dear, my shops only a few blocks away." Cinza explained as she pointed to their left, Lucina nodding once before beginning to walk in that direction.

"Sooo…do you own a factory or something." Lucina eventually asked, growing uncomfortable with the silence.

"Oh no, I run a sweet shop actually." Cinza quickly refuted, Lucina's ears instantly perking up at the mention of sugary goodness before a look of confusion quickly replaced her excitement.

"You run a bakery in the middle of the industrial section? Why?"

Cinza turned to regard Lucina for a moment before flashing a somewhat sad smile. "You haven't been in Vale for long, have you Deary?" She asked, Lucina shaking her head in response. "For us Faunus it's simpler to life here rather than the more populated area. There tends to be less racism around these parts as most foremen don't care what your body looks like so long as you can lift what needs to be lifted. My husband used to work at one of the nearby steel mills before he passed away a few years ago."

"…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I have plenty of fond memories with him and I'm certain that I'll see him again one day. But back on topic there are many Faunus besides myself that chose to make our homes here rather than deal with constant hatred in the northern parts of town."

"But what about those guys?"

"Well one can never truly be free from all the poor ignorant fools in the world but it's better than the alternatives." She answered with a somewhat bitter smile before placing a hand on Lucina's head and gently rubbing it in almost the same way that Nuria did only a few hours ago. "Plus no matter how many ruffians there are there are always honest souls like you willing to lend a hand and forget the prejudice of the past. Thank you Lucina."

Lucina couldn't help but smile bashfully before she looked away. "Y-you're welcome."

Not five minutes later the two found themselves in front of a building that was the very definition of the word "Cute". A tiny shop with a few tables situated out on its patio.

"Make yourself at home child, I'll be right back. Cinza commanded in a gentle but forceful tone as she walked into the back of the store, leaving Lucian along to gaze longingly at the various cakes and sweets hidden behind the pane of glass. But she didn't have to gaze for long, as when the mouse Faunus returned she was carrying a small plate with a big piece of chocolate cake along with a glass of milk.

"Here you go, a little something for lending me a helping hand." Cinza said with a chuckle as she placed the treat down on the table, Lucina descending upon it like a flock of Nevermores.

But in between her bites of the sugary delight Lucina couldn't help but notice that they were the only two in the store despite the fact that it was prime cake time. "Is it normally so empty?"

Cinza sighed as she looked around her store, a frustrated look on her face as she did so. "No but on days like today I'm forced to close shop when I have errands to run. But nothing I can do about it. My last part timer moved to Atlas a few weeks ago, leaving me high and dry until I can find a replacement for her."

Lucina paused in between bites as she stared wide eyed at the Faunus. Was fate truly so kind as to just plop such an opportunity in her lap? Or was this simply the cake gods granting her a favor in exchange for her good deed?

Nevertheless, she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Umm…actually me and my…sister were looking for work. Would you consider hiring us?" she asked with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster.

But it appeared her extra cuteness efforts were unneeded, as Cinza all but leap up at her declaration with a look of elation on her face. "Oh that would be perfect! And if your sister is even half as cute as you we should have no trouble drawing in new customers! It will be my pleasure to hire you Lucina!"

Lucina couldn't help but grin widely at the future prospect of working at a café that had such delicious cake, but her elation quickly vanished at Cinza's next sentence.

"Now then let's get you fitted for your uniform. I'm certain you'll look cute beyond compare in the skirt and frills.

 _…Frills?_

* * *

Nuria casually walked down the street with a predatory grin on her face, her form filtering in and out of the shadows that made up the less than savory part of town that she was currently making her way through. She had gone from nearly one end of Vale to the other, tracking down old…"Coworkers" and others that dealt with their line of work to let them know that the Twin Phantoms were currently in town.

Most had reacted exactly as she had expected them too, with a mixture of surprise and hiding their frustrations behind a veil of subservience. But even if the small fries didn't bother to make use of their talents it was enough that they knew they were around. If there really was a big fish in town as the Headmaster seemed to believe word would eventually reach them about Nuria and Lucina's presence…that is assuming that whoever they were they knew what they were doing.

But the day nearly over at that point, as Nuria had only one person left before heading back to Beacon. Even Lucina had met with success earlier judging by the image she had been sent of their new work uniforms, although based simply of the miserable look on the black haired girls face as she wore the short skirted chocolate brown uniform covered in white frills Nuria wasn't exactly sure if Lucina herself considered it a victory.

But Nuria didn't have any more time to worry about the misery of her younger teammate as her destination was right in front of her. She had almost missed the club at first as nearly every window was boarded up and the door looked like it had been scorched by some kind of flamethrower or something of similar power. But as got closer she could hear the beat of the music from inside.

"Well looks like someone's been busy lately." Nuria commented to no one in particular as she walked up to the massive steel doors that made up the entrance, surprised to see that despite its charred exterior the doors still slid away with ease.

Inside it was exactly as she expected it to be, as it was still far too early for most nightclub patrons to be present. Instead she could see various men walking around preparing for the nights events. However nearly every single one stopped to stare at Nuria the moment she walked through the door…or at least she assumed they were, it was kind of hard to tell when they were all wearing red shades.

But Nuria didn't hesitate to raise her hand in greeting. "Yo! Junior around somewhere? I've got business to discuss." She yelled, placing her mechanical hand on her hip as she studied the crowd.

It wasn't even a second later that the man in question strolled up to her, flanked by two black haired girls that were studying Nuria with a curious gaze.

"…So your still alive, wrench? Would've thought that you'd have pissed off some Huntsmen by now with a bark as loud as yours." Junior scoffed as he crossed his arms and glared down at Nuria, the brown haired fighter returning his gesture in kind.

"Hell no, you think the fuzz could catch me? If anything it's more of a surprise to see this shabby roadside stand still standing."

The nightclub was absolutely silent with the exception of the music in the background as the two glared at each other. But when both started to laugh the henchmen began to go about their business, knowing full well who exactly was standing in front of their boss.

Junior walked forward to slap Nuria on the shoulder, a pleasant grin on his face as he did so. "Good to see you Nuria. It's been too long since we've done a job together. Last time was that Raid on the Vallaco corporation's supply depot right?"

"Oh god, don't remind me. I spent weeks trying to wash that chemical smell off of my skin after that night." Nuria groaned but otherwise smiled up at the bear of a man. "So how have ya been ya old bastard? Looks like someone went to town on your windows not that long ago."

"Eh, just some blonde bimbo who was looking for a fight. Nothing out of the ordinary." Junior refuted, but judging from the fact that the few henchmen that were standing nearby flinched at the mention of this blonde something big had probably gone down. "But enough about that, care for a drink? I don't stock this bar just for looks ya'know."

That got Nuria's attention. "Don't care what but sure, just make sure it's fruity." She replied as she followed after the owner of the club. "So Melanie, Miltia, how have you two been? Still hanging around this looser?" She joked, enjoying the grunt that Junior sent her way as she spoke to the two black haired girls that were walking just behind her.

Both Huntress dropouts smiled at her as they continued to walk. "Hmph, it's been better. But at least he gives us work and free drinks." Militia replied as she crossed her arms, her claws all but glittering in the flashing lights.

"So you didn't bring Lucina along with you this time? Pity, I would have loved to try to give her a makeover again." Melanie added on, sighing in disappointment at the lost chance of toying with the quite girl.

"Eh, maybe next time. You know that she doesn't really go for this kind of atmosphere after all." Nuria replied with a shrug.

Eventually their little group reached the front of the bar, where Nuria was surprised to find a cherry drink already waiting for her.

"So Nuria, what exactly are you doing around here? Last I heard you and your partner got pinched in Manara a few months ago."

"Pssthh, like I said, there aren't any blue boys on the planet who are good enough to pin us down…although we did have to switch towns, had a Huntress on our tails by the end of it." Nuria replied as she waved her hand in dismissal. "But as far as why we're in Vale…lets just say we're planning to set up shop around here."

Nuria watched as all three of their faces morphed into shocked looks at her declaration, Junior being the first to recover and grin evilly.

"So the Twin Phantoms are going to be haunting the streets of Vale now? I almost feel sorry for the poor souls who get in your way."

Nuria matched his smile as she continued to sip on her drink. In truth the charges that Ozpin had listed off when they had gotten caught was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to Nuria and Lucina. The two had been in the thievery business far longer than the two months that he had listed off when they had been caught and in truth they had been operating for over four years.

They had been the bane of frontier towns for so long that those who dealt with the less savory side of life had taken to calling them the Twin Phantoms, based off of the fact no matter how hard the job or who they had to track down the two managed to find and achieve their objective without any difficulties and even sometimes without their targets even realizing the fact that they had been robbed.

 _Although that's mostly because of Lucina's talents but the world doesn't need to know that I'm just the muscle._ Nuria thought sarcastically as she downed the rest of her drink and turned to Junior again. "Yep, so I just wanted to spread the word and let all you upstanding citizens know that we're around and looking for work…so you got anything for us Junior?"

Junior crossed his arms and stared up at the ceiling in thought before replying. "…maybe, there's a few things I can think of off the top of my head but nothing for awhile. I'll let you know when."

"That's ma'boy! I'll let you know later how to get in contact with us." Nuria replied as she shook Junior's hand before making for the door.

"Ya sure you want to head out so soon? We're not that far off from opening for the night after all." Junior called out form his spot on the bar, the twins also watching her leave.

In truth Nuria would've loved to stick around and enjoy the night. She loved the thump of the base blasting through her body, the heat coming off of those dancing around her, the cool drinks sliding down her throat, there were few things better in this world than enjoying a night on the dance floor…with the exception of dressing up Lucina.

But she had studying for classes to do, as being out of school for most of her life had left Nuria somewhat behind her peers.

"Thanks but I'll pass for now. Got a big day ahead of me. Cya next time guys!" She shouted as the gray doors once opened for her the cold night air rushing in to meet her.

Making her way back through the city she eventually made her way to the airship stop they had decided to meet up at Nuria couldn't help but giggle at the pout on Lucina's face as she leaned against a railing with her arms crossed.

"...I hate that uniform." Lucina commented the moment Nuria approached close enough for them to speak, Nuria's giggles growing into full blown laughter.

"Oh come one, it's not that bad. Plus you looked great in it." Nuria replied as she threw her still human arm around Lucina's shoulder and lead her back onto the airship. "In fact I think we should send it to Ruby and Yang, I'm sure that they would love to see you in your new uniform."

"Don't you dare!" Lucina shouted in outrage, Nuria laughing as she skipped away from the now enraged dust mage, the airship taking off a moment later to take the two Huntresses in training back to their school.

* * *

Umbra watched from her spot in the shadows as her two teammates ran around the Airship like little kids, a panicked look on Lucina's face while Nuria was cackling the entire time. But despite the heartwarming scene Umbra couldn't help but glare at the younger of the two with a confused look on her face.

She had spent the entirety of her day going from industrial chemical store to chemical store looking supplies that she could use in her study of the Grimm. When most of the time it was almost impossible to keep a Grimm's body preserved for extended periods of time, when certain chemicals were used on the creature its corpse would remain for at least a few hours after it expired.

Umbra had already obtained a method of obtaining her living specimens from Professor Port, as the man apparently had a impressive talent for capturing the white skulled creatures, but Umbra still had to obtain a supply chain of viscous chemicals for her own use.

When she had originally descended down to the all too bright city she had been in a foul mood, expecting to spend her entire day dealing with old assholes telling her that she was sticking her head into places she didn't belong and that she should instead "Spend her time playing with dolls or whatever brats do nowadays". And in all fairness she did experience quite a bit of that.

But what she hadn't expected to see was her younger teammate brutally break a man's arm after launching them into the air with a casual flick of her wrist. Her eyes staring at the four drunkards with a look that sent shivers of excitement down her spine.

Instantly forgetting about obtaining anymore Grimarian Chloride, Umbra had spent the rest of her day tailing the young girl, praying that she would see more of the hidden cruelty the black haired girl hid behind her nervous expressions. And thanks to her Semblance's power that allowed her to fade into shadows whenever she wished.

Unfortunately, despite her stealthy talents, she had been ready to write off the rest of the day as a failure. Little Lucina only speaking to a Faunus for a brief time, eating more than her body weight in cake in the same strange manner that she had always used to consume food, and waited at an airship pad for the rest of the day. But her disappointment quickly turned to curiosity when her own one armed partner showed up smelling of cigarettes and alcohol, two things that most budding Huntresses wouldn't be caught dead smelling like.

 _Well then, what were two Huntresses in training doing in the ruff part of town on their very first day off? I can't wait to find out._ Umbra thought to herself as she suppressed what many would consider an diabolic laugh, as her semblance didn't mask sounds.

But even though she couldn't answer the question herself, Umbra was ecstatic at the prospect of stalking two new unsuspecting victims. Her first year at Beacon was shaping up to be quite interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucina leapt back with a grimace, just barely dodging the ice block that had been dropped on the spot she had been standing in moments ago. She really hated doing this, fighting in these pointless mock combat matches against other Huntsmen and Huntresses. What was the point? Weren't they in this stupid school to fight against Grimm? Why would fighting against other trainees help them fight against wild animals?

"Lucina! Pay attention! We're not out of the woods yet!" Aqua shouted from somewhere behind her, the sound of weapons clashing accompanying her warning.

The black haired dust mage's head shot back up just in time to see Weiss lunging at her with the tip of her blade pointed directly at Lucina's chest. And despite knowing that her aura levels were more than enough to take the blow, she couldn't help but instinctively flinch back in panic. However, despite her unpreparedness, her knee-jerk reaction was more than enough to save her skin, as four runes appeared before her, creating a crisscrossing chain that trapped the heiress's blade before it could land.

"Tch…such an infuriating Semblance." The white haired girl cursed as she extracted her blade from the chains and leapt away, Ruby meeting up with her partner a second later while Aqua rushed to Lucina's side.

"Such an impressive display of defense, I am awed by your prowess once again." The pink haired girl breathlessly commented as she readied her poleax for another attack, Lucina inadvertently flinching at the complement she most certainly didn't deserve.

"Uh…r-right…" She replied ambiguously as she looked back at their foes. In truth, Lucina hadn't even really consciously controlled her runes, rather it was more along the lines of someone catching something without thinking, her runes were so deeply ingrained in her day to day life at that point that she barley had to think to cast them . Sure; most people would probably think that it was incredibly unfair for her to not even have to react to attacks to defend herself…and she was kind of in agreement, but it was what it was.

"Darn…I thought for sure that if we separated them we could get'em." Lucina heard Ruby comment as she ejected one magazine and replaced it with another before lowering her stance, her intent to charge clear as day. "But I know what will stop them! Weiss! Formation "Ice flower of overwhelming destruction and awesomeness!" Now!" the scythe wielder shouted as she rushed forward, leaving a very confused looking partner in her wake.

"Wait, you Dunce, what in dusts name is that supposed to be?" Weiss shouted back as she followed after her partner.

But Aqua wasn't about to let them approach unmolested, the team leader turning back to Lucina with a confident expression. "Web!" She shouted as she manifested her two aura shields and brought her weapon to bare in preparation for the two Huntresses in training.

 _Web…web…oh! Right, that was the defense one._ Lucina reminded herself of what her partner was talking about before closing her eyes and concentrating on her runes. A second later a formation of green runes appeared around the two teammates, the chains flying out into the backs of the rune in front of them, forming a ring around the two fighters…a ring that Ruby rushed into at full speed, knocking the wind out of the scythe wielder as her Aura flared angrily.

"Ms Rose has dropped into the red; she is out of the battle." Ms. Goodwitch announced from the side of the arena, the young huntress groaning in response.

But that was just the opportunity that the two needed, both turning to stare at the now lone heiress, who couldn't help but flinch at the confident grin on Aqua's face.

 _…I'm so sorry._ Lucina couldn't help but apologize as Aqua charged forward, a multitude of green runes appearing around the battlefield a moment later.

* * *

"Awww maaannn…I thought for sure we had that!" Ruby whined from one of the benches in the locker room, the four of them having the chance to wash the sweat from their bodies before going to lunch.

"Well what do you expect when you just rush off headfirst into their weapons?" Weiss returned furiously as she slammed a locker closed, clearly still fuming about being strung up like a fish by the end of the fight.

"Wait, how is this my fault? I told you what formation we were going with so why didn't you support me like you were supposed to?" Ruby shot back as she finished checking over Crescent Rose, placing the weapon in its rocket propelled locker.

"And do you honestly expect me to recall which one of the multitude of incredibly complex and stupidly named formations you've come up with in the heat of battle?"

"Huh? Whada'ya mean? That formation is beyond perfect. The only reason it didn't work is because you didn't do what you were supposed to do!"

"And that's because all your stupid strategies have some combination of awesome, destruction, or some other combination of ridiculous words that have no meaning in combat!How am I supposed to remember what each one does if they all sound the same?"

"But that's what makes the combination attacks so cool! If they don't have awesome names then how are we supposed to let our enemies know how incredible we are?"

"I don't know…perhaps by simply beating them as opposed to loosing because they won't wait for you to finish your ridiculously long orders?" Weiss returned as she sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Honestly, why can't you take a lesson from Aqua here? She doesn't bother with overly complex combination attacks." She continued as she pointed at the pink haired team leader, the huntress in question laughing slightly in embarrassment.

"Well…I'm afraid that I must agree with Ms. Schnee on this one Ms. Rose. If you waste time with unnecessarily long orders then you are only giving your enemies an opportunity to prepare themselves. Right Lucina?" The team leader tried to pass the puck, all three looking over at where the black haired girl was currently lying down on one of the many benches, a hand over her eyes as she tried to suck in breath like a fish on land.

"I…I…don't really…care...both good...options." She commented in between breaths, Aqua laughing lightly while Weiss sighed and Ruby bent down next to her with concern on her face.

"Oh no! What's wrong Lucina! Don't die! Don't go into the light!" The scythe wielder shouted, Weiss almost instantly smacking her lightly on the head in order to calm her down.

"Don't be stupid, she simply needs to recover after using her runes so many times." The white haired huntress commented before looking at Lucina's still limp form. "For most dust mages; the act of using our runes or powers is incredibly taxing, and from what I've seen the size of the target matters little for her bindings, rather she simply has a limit on how often she can bind others. Correct Lucina?"

"N-nn…its actually...both." The youngest member of team LUNA confirmed, slightly disturbed that her powers had been seen through so thoroughly only a few weeks into the semester.

"Truly? That's quite the shame then Lucina…but if you don't mind me asking Ms. Schnee, how is it possible for you then to remain so unaffected by your own rune based semblance?" Aqua questioned as she handed Lucina a glass of water.

"It's simple; descendants of the Schnee bloodline inherit our semblance from generation to generation, our runes growing both more complex and easier to cast with each new user." The heiress explained offhandedly as she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. "And due to this I may use my own runes with little to no exhaustion on my part."

"I see…well then, shall we head to lunch then?" Aqua murmured before clapping her hands and deciding for the others what they would be doing next. But it wasn't as if Ruby was opposed to the idea, the black haired girl instantly leaping up with an excited look on his face.

"Oh ya, that's right! Jaune and everyone wanted to join us for a meal too. I'll go get them!" she shouted before activating her semblance and vanishing though the open door with a flurry of rose petals.

But Lucina's reaction was almost the exact opposite of Ruby's. Particularly after hearing that team JNPR would be joining them. In less than a second she was up and making her way for the door, Aqua staring at her retreating back with a look of concern.

Not then minutes later nearly the entirety of the freshman class was gathered in the cafeteria, one particular table nearly filled with three teams in particular. Ruby looked around excitedly, looking forward to talking about the strategies they used during the mock fight with the only other young girl in the school, but when she saw only Aqua and Weiss approaching she couldn't help but frown in disappointment.

"Aww, Lucina didn't want to eat with us again?" She confirmed, Aqua nodding her head with an equally as displeased look on her own face.

"She did not outright refuse, but seeing as she did not come here immediately it's hardly a stretch to think that she has decided to abstain from our company." Aqua answered as she sat down.

"She's likely in the library…I've seen her there multiple times." Blake commented as Yang shrugged.

"Eh, at least Ice Queen is joining us today, right guys?" Yang called out with a grin, the white haired heiress sighing in response.

"Must you continue to use that infuriating nickname?"

"Until the day I die or it stops being so funny…but if you really want me to stop, you could always ask Nuria here to give you a…hand." She continued with barely contained chuckles, the one armed woman in question raising an eyebrow in response.

"Seriously? Do you really think I haven't heard that one before? Honestly I'm a little disappointed in you."

"Don't be, it's part of the Xiao Long family code. Never back down from a fight, never let someone get the best of you, and always make as many jokes as you can." The blonde brawler answered with a smile and a shrug, Ruby sighing almost in relief as Yang finished recounting the family code.

"Thank god dad let me take Mom's maiden name."

"Oh? Want to explain what you mean by that? My dear little sister." Yang asked as she turned to her team leader, Ruby flinching under her furious gaze before stuffing her mouth with food so that she wouldn't be able to answer. But after a few seconds of trying to eat the entirety of her sandwich she stopped, a realization on her face. But before she could utter a single syllable Weiss slammed her hands down on the table and glared at her partner with barely contained fury.

"Ruby Rose, I swear to all deities that exist; if you start talking before finishing your food I will freeze you in your sleep." She threatened, Ruby flinching before quickly swallowing her massive bite.

"…well, I was gonna say that it I don't think that Lucina has ever joined us when Jaune and his team are eating with us…kinda strange if you ask me." Ruby thought out loud as nearly all eyes turned to stare at the third and final team leader at the table, Jaune flinching under the multitude of curious gazes.

"W-wait…your saying it's my fault? What did I do to get her angry at me?" he asked, turning to his teammates for confirmation that he hadn't done anything too insulting.

"Well…maybe it was your really bad pickup lines?" Nora supplied, Ren nodding his head slightly while Pyrrha simply forced a smile onto her face

"Huh? My lines are pure gold. It couldn't have been them!"

"Oh dust no, they're not even close. It's honestly hard to keep from hurting you every time you say one." Yang answered in a rare serious tone. The other girls, even Pyrrha, nodding along with Yang's assessment and causing the blonde teen to clutch at his head in embarrassment.

"While I agree with Yang on the level of your cheesy one-liners, you don't need to worry about her avoiding you. It's just that she gets uncomfortable with this many people around. She's probably just hiding in some corner of the school until it's time for classes." Nuria eventually declared before stealing a cookie off of Ruby's plate, the recipient of the sugary theft instantly crying out and trying to snatch her desert back.

"I see, that is a shame then. I wished to speak to her in regards to her match today…or speak to her in general. But I suppose there's nothing that can be done about it." Pyrrha commented with a sigh while Ruby had succeeded in retrieving her desert.

"Oh ya Pyrrha, now that I think about it, you've never actually met Lucina have you?" Nora asked as she began to tear into her meal like a starving Beowolf, Ren leaning away in order to avoid flying scraps.

"Not formally no, we interacted during the events of the entrance exam but otherwise have not spoken formally." She confirmed as Nora jumped from her seat with an excited look.

"You've got to meet her soon then! She's awesome! She can eat a plate of food so fast that you don't even notice!...oh, and she's got those dust mages powers which I guess are ok."

"Nora, I think you're getting the order wrong on those abilities of hers." Ren commented with a sigh, earning an embarrassed laugh from Nora while the others simply smiled. Nuria following along up until her Scroll began to vibrate, the one armed warrior opening its contents and reading through them with at first a frown, followed shortly by a predatory grin.

"Oh? Did another paragon of light fall? Or did your prey finally reveal itself?" Umbra asked as she noticed her partners face, Nuria blinking slowly in response.

"Wait what the hell are you…no never mind. I don't feel like opening that particular can of worms." She replied with a shake of the head before smiling. "But it's nothing much, just a little bit of "extracurricular work" for me and Lucina to do later tonight."

* * *

Lucina loved the library, it was the one place in the school where she could just relax by herself and try and find out whatever she could about her mother's final mission. Sure, she had been met with nothing but failure so far, but that didn't change the fact that it was still a treasure trove of stories to read, of information to learn.

Before arriving, Lucina had no idea that there were so many stories in the world that people just made up. She had particularly enjoyed a story that Ruby's fourth teammate, the black haired girl by the name of Blake Belladonna, had suggested about a man with two souls. They hadn't spoken much, only a few short sentences exchanged between them, but since they kept encountering each other in the nearly silent hall they had developed an almost entirely silent friendship.

But the black haired dust mage wasn't in the library today to hear about another ninja story; rather she had actual work to do for once. In truth, she was beginning to fall behind in her dust studies class. The act of combining dusts into stable forms without using her semblance to forcibly combine them was proving to be nearly impossible for her to understand. She just didn't understand how she was supposed to combine red dust and white dust without causing them to explode. How on earth did Weiss manage to do it so effortlessly every single time?

And as such Professor Peach told her to check out a few books that might help her understand what exactly was causing her dust combinations to explode, and with the answers hopefully in her hands she began to look for a spot to sit and try and figure things out. But for whatever reason, today the library just seemed to be ten times more busy than normal, nearly every desk filled with upperclassmen reading or writing something with tense expressions.

But thankfully she couldn't care less for where she was sitting, so rather than simply trying to fit in with another group of people with possibly nefarious agendas she simply retreated farther into the room. But as she descended further into the rows of bookshelves Lucina began to feel more and more anxious. Not only was there almost nowhere to sit, but she was already beginning to regret skipping out on lunch, her stomach beginning to rumble loudly in order to punish her for her foolishness.

 _Ok, I'm only looking at a few more tables before going to lunch. I can probably behave normally around her…I think._ Lucina eventually decided as she passed yet another full table.

But thankfully she never had to take the risk with going back to lunch, as she did end up finding a table in the far back of the library with only a single person present, a table that was practically a godsend to her at that point. "Um, excuse me?" Lucina called out to the only person at the table, a person that she recognized as the brown haired girl from her Dust studies class. The moment Lucina began speaking the girls head shot up from whatever she was working on, a look of pure shock on her face as she gaped at Lucina. "Can I sit here?" She tentatively asked, gesturing to the seat.

"E-eh…U-umm…s-sure, I'm ok with it." She eventually answered as she gestured to one of the many open chairs at the table, Lucina only taking a second to settle in to her new seat, opening one of the many books and trying her hardest to make sense of what was inside.

The two continued to read in relative silence, the only sound being the near silent sound of their pages turning, but after awhile Lucina could hear her table mate clearing her throat in a way that left little to the imagination, drawing her gaze from the complex equations to see the brown haired girl staring nervously at her.

"U-um…d-do you mind if I ask you something?" She eventually stuttered out, looking down at her hands as she spoke. Lucina for her part raised a single eyebrow at her expression, but still gave her desk mate the go ahead. "Why…why would you sit here?"

"Uhh…because it's one of the only ones open?" Lucina answered with a tilt of her head, not really sure what she was getting at.

"But, if you sit with someone like me they'll always associate you with me." She whispered as she leaned forward, her nervous expression turning serious for a second.

"…ok? Is that a problem?"

"Well…no, it's not really an issue for me. But do you really want to be associated…with a Faunus?" She eventually managed to get out, her rabbit ears twitching slightly as she mentioned the f-word.

And then Lucina finally understood what was happening, her eyes going to the twin brown rabbit ears that seemed to droop in some negative emotion. Even the girl's aura, a light blue color that outlined her form in straight lines, seemed to dull at the mention of her heritage but Lucina wasn't bothered by it at all.

"I don't care. I just need a table to use." She answered as she tried to go back to her book. But apparently the huntress in training across from her wasn't done yet.

"Are you sure? My classmates aren't exactly subtle on their views of me…and if you associate with me too much they'll remember you too. Surely you noticed that no one works with me in our dust studies class." She continued with a self deprecating smile as Lucina blinked slowly in surprise.

"…Oh right, I thought that I saw you before. You're…Velvet right?"

"Are you…are you making fun of me? Why wouldn't you care?" she asked quietly, her cheeks puffing out in displeasure and causing Lucina to flinch.

"N-no…I just don't care about what other people think. I hate people for what they do, not who they are." Lucina admitted nervously, hoping that her answer was the one that the brown haired dust mage was looking for. And apparently it was, as her eyes went just as wide as Lucina's before she smiled nervously.

"I-I see…you're a lot like Coco." She commented with a smile before finally noticing what she was working on. "Oh, are you working on dust studies?"

"Ah…yeah. Professor Peach wants to keep things from exploding again." Lucina replied with a nervous smile, Velvet laughing quietly at her expression.

"Yes well, that last explosion did put some cracks on the wall…would you…would you like some help?" She offered with a nervous smile.

"E-eh?"

"Well…it might be a little arrogant of me to say so, but I am pretty good with dust…and from what I've seen you could use some help…is that too forward of me?" She asked as she stood and moved around to Lucina's side of the table.

 _Well…she's not wrong._ Lucina thought as she nodded glumly and moved over, the brown haired upperclassman taking a seat next to her. "But don't you have your own work to do?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I finished the report they're working on days ago. I'm just here to read for fun."

"Oh…ok then." Lucina replied as her scroll went off, the vibration startling her somewhat. Opening up the device, she quickly read through the short message that Nuria had sent her, and by the end she couldn't help but frown.

"Get ready Luci, we have a job with the sisters tonight." The message read, meaning it was finally time to get to work on their other job.

* * *

"Like, seriously? I can't believe you found a pair of jeans from that designer store…and they even have the authentic rips at the knees!" Lucina heard Melanie reply to Nuria's brags about her pants as the four moved through the shadows of Vale. Junior had contacted Nuria about some shipping containers from Vacuo that someone wanted to get a hold of, some shipping containers that they had been hired to make disappear.

"I know right? Thankfully the metal arm helps intimidate other potential shoppers when they try to go after my precious designer outfits." Nuria replied as they began to leap between buildings in order to get onto the roof before stopping and overlooking the docks. Lucina tensing slightly for a moment as Miltia threw her weight on her back and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl.

"Heyyyy Lucinaaaa…why won't you let us dress you up? You could look just as good as us if you agree to be our dress up doll." She wined as she gently shook Lucina back and forth. For as long as the young dust mage had known the twins they had been constantly dotting on her. something she appreciated sure, but it was also something that she just didn't really want to have to deal with…plus they were just like Nuria when it came to clothes, another thing she just couldn't care less about.

"Because I don't need to, that's why we have these cloaks after all." She replied as she lifted the black fabric of her new covering, both her and Nuria having purchased the new clothing in anticipation of these kinds of jobs. After all, they couldn't exactly let their faces get seen by the authorities now that they were actually legit. There would be far too many questions to face if the Vale police department managed to get a hold of them.

"Alright girls, no more time for fashion talk." Nuria commented with a giggle, throwing Lucina a desperately needed life saver. The four girls looked down at the various docks, each one easily noticing the slowly patrolling guards below. "I'm just gonna go out on a limb and assume that Junior doesn't expect us to just lift five cargo containers ourselves. Are your guys ready to move in?"

"Yep, the moment we give the signal they'll drive in." Miltia replied as she stood back up straight and held out an illegally modified Scroll, the device modified so that it would only receive or send signals to specific sources.

"And if you wanted our help with such a cinch of a job I guess he doesn't want too much heat right?" Nuria continued, Melanie nodding in confirmation. "Cool, shouldn't take long then. You ready Luci?"

"…Good to go." Lucina replied simply as she focused on the feeling that was always in the back of her mind when she used her semblance in order to focus, a feeling like all the blood in her body was rushing ten times faster than normal.

"Right, so you two wait here for our signal, we'll make an opportunity." Nuria told the red and white ex-huntresses trainees before nodding to Lucina, the two sprinting farther down the length of the roof. Before long they found their prey, two guards slowly making their rounds with bored expressions. The two first year Huntress trainees waited until the guards were almost directly underneath them before launching their attacks, both using Lucina's chains as a very convenient zip line. Before either of the two unsuspecting night watchmen could even look up at the sound of cloth moving against metal they were on them; Nuria using her metal fist to slam her target's head onto the ground while Lucina lashed out with one of her chains, striking her foe in the temple. And without the help of passive aura shielding the men stood no chance against the two, both crumpling instantly under the force of their assault without so much as a whimper.

The two waited for a brief second in anticipation of others coming to the two fallen guard's aid. But after a minute or so passed with nothing but the sound of distant cars rumbling down the road Nuria held out her arm and shook her hand back and forth for a few seconds. A few seconds later they were joined by the other two members of their thieving entourage.

"I see you two are just as brutal as always. Glad you're on our side of the law." Miltia commented with a low whistle as she casually kicked at one of the unconscious guards in order to make sure he really was out of the fight.

 _It might be kind of funny to tell her were working on becoming Huntresses…nah, I'll let Nuria say something if she wants to._ Lucina at first thought before deciding against it. Moving with as much speed as possible, their group made their way into the depths of the mountains of shipping containers, each one of the girls carefully watching the symbols in search of their target. And before long they found themselves growing frustrated.

"Ok, so is it just me or does it seem like these stupid crates were purposely put somewhere out of the way?" Nuria eventually said with a scowl on her face, clearly wanting nothing more than to punch something in anger but holding herself back so as they wouldn't be found.

"Well, Junior wouldn't waste our time with some petty stuff, so makes sense that wherever they are they're a little more guarded." Melanie replied with a shrug as they turned a corner and came face to face with eight equally as shocked security guards.

"Wh-who the hell are you?!" One of them shouted out as they all leveled their guns at the four girls. But the four thieves reacted just as fast as the guards if not faster; Nuria, Melanie, and Miltia leaping forward to attack while Lucina leapt back and drew a dust crystal from her robe. Nuria reached her target first reaching out with near inhuman speeds to grab his gun and activate her semblance, the metal that comprised the gun turning white hot for a brief second as its internals melted. To his credit the man realized his weapon was nothing more than molten piece of trash very quickly, tossing aside the hunk of metal to draw a stun baton from his belt and rushing in at Lucina's cloaked partner, the brown haired brawler raising her fists with a feral grin on her face.

Melanie and Miltia moved with practiced precision, their kicks or clawed attacks coordinated to hit within seconds, letting them take on more than just one person at a time as they moved to and fro with practiced ease. In all honesty, Lucina had always been impressed by easily the two club workers worked in tandem, reaching levels that not even she and Nuria managed to reach. But she would never tell them that, they would never let her hear the end of it.

But with all three of her team mates currently fighting that left three armed and reasonably dangerous guards for Lucina to fight while her hands were somewhat tied. She couldn't afford to use her semblance, not with how unique it was, and that left her with only two options.

"Remove your weapons and put your hands in the air! Do it now or we WILL open fire!" One guard warned as they moved to encircle her.

 _Ok…ok…stay calm and wait for them to get closer before doing anything…_ Lucina repeated in her head as she slowly raised her hands and waited for the guards to approach. And when they were only a few feet away she struck. Lowering her center of gravity, Lucina reached into the folds of her robe and withdrew three reasonably sized fire dust crystals. Since meeting her fellow first year dust mage, Lucina had always been impressed with how Weiss managed to use dust with such precision and accuracy. She created barriers of ice with little more than flicks of her wrist or froze specific areas of her foes during their mock battles. But at the end of the day she never really needed that level of precision.

If she could defeat her opponent with overwhelming force it didn't matter how impressive her techniques were, a defeated opponent was a defeated opponent at the end of the day after all.

The poor men didn't seem to realize what she was doing at first, but when Lucina tossed the dust crystals directly at them they finally seemed to realize what was coming. They tried to back off, but it was already far too late. The dust crystals already beginning to glow from within for a brief second before exploding into walls of flame that threw the four men through the air with enough force to send them careening into a nearby stack of pallets.

"Damn L, not pulling any punches today are you?" Nuria commented with a low wistle as she dragged her guard over to toss him onto the pile of his compatriots, the man's armor having been melted in various spots.

"Hmph…it's not like you were any better, you could have killed that guy if you weren't careful." Lucina returned as she crossed her arms and turned away. Out of all the semblances the young dust mage had seen over the years, Nuria's was perhaps the most deadly. So long as she could get her hands on something, she would be able to heat it up to an insane degree, literally burning things from the inside out. If she hadn't been careful, she could have boiled the man's blood without intending to. Not a very good way to go in Lucina's humble opinion.

"Don't worry, I was being careful." Nuria replied in order to placate her, while Melanie and Miltia gestured for the two to join them, the two Huntresses in training rushing over to see them standing next to five large sealed shipping containers.

"These are them…so now all we need to do is get all the boys here to help unload them." Miltia commented as she sent the all clear signal through her Scroll, the sound of trucks approaching soon following.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Just get them here fast and Lucina here can take care of the heavy lifting." Nuria quickly commented with a massive grin while Lucina's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment.

The two black haired sisters stared at them curiously but before they could say anything a massive semi broke through the side of the building, its sudden appearance accompanied by a earth shattering roar and a hail of splinters. All four girls shielded their eyes the truck lumbered over to them and slid to a stop, Junior leaning out the window, pulling down his red shades and throwing a large grin their way.

"Ladies." He commented as he motioned for his men to get to work. But before anyone could make any moves Lucina motioned for them to stop before she turned and conjured a green rune in the palm of her hand. A second later her chains shot out from the back of the semi, flew through the air, attached themselves to the shipping containers, and yanking them into the air before each landed with a metallic clang.

For a brief moment the warehouse was quiet for a moment, as the various black suited thugs stared at the young cloaked girl with open mouths, but that silence was shattered when Junior began to laugh heartedly.

"Damn, I forgot how easy things are with you two in tow…get back on boys! We're out of here!" the bearded man shouted as he hefted his massive rocket launcher and promptly blasted a hole in another wall, waiting only for the four girls to grab onto the outside of the truck before slamming on the gas and fleeing from the scene.

Lucina couldn't help but smile as she cold night air battered her, enjoying the feeling of successfully completing their objective. Sure, there were still thieves, but that didn't change the fact that they still kicked butt.

"Hey Luciii!" Nuria called out from somewhere behind her, drawing her attention away from the cool night air. "Remember, we have a Remnant history test tomorrow and we still need to cram for it when we get home!"

 _…And just like that, the feelings gone._ She thought with a sigh as they drove off into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Nuria ran, she ran faster than she ever had before, as she tried desperately to escape from the now burning convoy behind her. She could hear the howls of Beowolf's all around her, the creatures of Grimm easily tracking her through her fear and pain but had yet to move in for the kill, likely toying with her in order to savor her terror.

The brown haired girl tripped slightly as she clutched at the still bleeding stump of her right arm, the pain nearly blinding her and causing her to bounce of the trees that surrounded her as she continued her mad dash through the forest.

 _Mom…D-Dad…everyone…they're all dead!_ Nuria thought in panic as she tried to silence her sniffling. _Why…why did this happen? What did we do to deserve this?_ But of course there was no answer; mankind had been looking for the answer to that question for generations with no real answer and she wasn't about to find one so close to her end.

Part of her just wanted to stop, to curl into a ball and wait for the jaws and claws to close in on her and send her to meet with her parents, but the training they had put her through in order to survive out in the lands they would one day call home compelled her to keep moving, Nuria nearly lost her footing as she slid down into a dry creek bed in order to avoid her pursuers that sounded even closer than a few seconds ago. To the point where she could practically feel their breath on the back of her neck as they circled around her savoring her terror.

"No…I…I don't want to die!" She finally screamed as the terror and frustration overwhelmed her, her cries only answer being the howls of the Grimm that were likely surrounding her.

And then, when her despair had reached its peak, it appeared. It moved though the trees like a shadow, unbound by the constraints of the physical world and its nightmarish appearance only reinforcing its impression of something that should not be. Its bony claws tore through the bark as easily as a knife destroyed flesh and its fleshless wings twitched in what the brown haired amputee could only assume was glee at finding such a delicious meal such as herself.

And its eyes, it's terrible, blood red eyes; they held Nuria's gaze and refused to let go, the unnatural intelligence behind them gazing at her like it could see though her completely, like she was naked before the hateful, crimson eyes.

And so, with nothing left to do but give into her fate, Nuria gave one last, mournful cry, the Grimm before her answer her wail with one of its own, a piercing scream that shattered the quiet of the night with clear intentions of violence.

.

.

.

Nuria woke up with a start and a gasph, her body covered in sweat and her breaths coming in short, rapid, breaths. It was still early, the first light of the day still just barely making its way through their blinds, but it was still too late for Nuria to just try and fall back asleep. And that didn't even take into account the fact that she likely wouldn't be able to, her nightmare still fresh in her mind.

 _God I hate that dream._ She thought as she fought off the desire to strangle something, a feeling she often fought against when she woke up to that dream. Normally she would just go work of the frustration with a training dummy or whatever poor sap was around that wanted a piece of her, preferably Cardin or one of interchangeable lackeys, but this morning she just so happened to not be the first one up, their always cheerful leader was already up and staring at her in concern.

"Oh my Nuria, are you alright? You're covered in sweat." The pink haired axe wielder asked with possibly authentic concern on her face. Nuria chewed on the idea of telling the truth to her teammate for a second, as it wasn't like it wasn't like this wasn't gonna happen again in the next four years, but in the end she just decided that toying with her would be better option for now.

"Oh you know, just had one of...THOSE dreams, what with all the fresh meat on display around here." The brown haired huntress in training cooed as she gestured suggestively, enjoying the almost instant red hue to her team leaders face. "Just couldn't help myself, ya'know?"

"W-well, I most certainly hope you will contain yourself! Those kind of impure thoughts aren't the sort of morals you should bring into a room with women younger than yourself!" Aqua continued to chastise as her cheeks continued through all the shades of red, the uptight leader finally turning away in a huff while Nuria simply grinned like the cat that got the cannery.

"Right, right." Nuria replied back in a sing-songy tone as she slowly crawled out of bed to get dressed, only stopping when she felt yet another gaze on her back. Turning back to the room, the brown haired brawler was surprised to see Lucina, awake for once in a blue shattered moon, staring at her with a look in between worry and trepidation.

 _Oh right, she would've felt that thought the "bind" between us._ She remembered eventually, the early morning haze in her mind making it difficult to recall such facts. But it didn't take long for her brain to catch up; the brown haired trainee returned the stare and blinked three times slowly before barely shaking her head, a signal that they often used for "talk about it later."

The youngest member of the team apparently received her message, an almost unnoticeable nod of the head following shortly after Nuria's blinks, before she slowly rose from her own bed and made her way over to one of the shared dressers in the room, Aqua instantly following after her likely to baby her unnecessarily.

Nuria couldn't help but grimace in pity as the axe wielding warrior began to comb Lucina's hair, the black haired dust mage clearly not enjoying the attention but to shy to do anything about it. It wasn't like she didn't understand why the team leader liked to dote on the dust mage, as Nuria got an almost sadistic sense of glee at seeing Lucina being all bashful, but really? Aqua had only known the girl for a little over a month and she was already pretending to be that close with her? A little strange to say the least.

"So team leader," Nuria started, drawing the pinkette's attention away from the quick to flee Lucina. "What exactly do we have on our plates for today? Another thrilling day of school based intrigue and barely legal beatings?"

"I-I'm sorry what?"

"…what classes do we have today?" Nuria eventually replied after sighing, Aqua's eyes lighting up in recognition.

"Oh, well why didn't you just say that from the beginning? We have the usual classes in the morning; Remnant History, Grimm Studies, and combat training and have the entire afternoon off! Which I for one believe we should spend the afternoon further cementing our teamwork." She announced excitedly.

"Ugh, fine I guess. I guess we might want to make sure we don't get each other killed in actual fights from here on out so I'm game. You up for some fun Lucina?" Nuria questioned the young thief, the black haired girl flinching slightly at the fought of fighting against her much stronger companions.

"U-umm…I actually wanted to go to the library…" The dust mage trailed off as she noticed Nuria smiling at her with a smile that was anything but happy.

"What was that Lucina? I thought I heard you say something about how you would just love to join us in our mock fight." Nuria repeated, the youngest member of the team nodding stiffly in response.

"…What manner of fools are ruining the perfect darkness of the early morning? Don't make me curse your ancestors." Umbra cursed as she finally forced her way out of bed and, instead of getting dressed, Nuria's mental unstable partner slowly shuffled over to her collection of beakers and test tubes, plucking one filled with a viscous black fluid from the collection and staring at it intently. "Hmmm, it broke down faster than I thought it would…an inconvenience, but one I can overcome." The girl muttered to herself as Nuria leaned over her shoulder with a curious expression on her face.

"So what'cha doing here partner? More mad scientist stuff?"

Umbra turned her head slightly to glare for a brief second before returning her attention to her glassware. "…it's commonly known that when a creature of Grimm dies it dissipates into smoke and dissolves entirely. But if you quickly douse its body in a potent mixture of chemicals the flesh will instead coagulate and remain for a brief period of time, giving us the chance to experiment on them before they fade."

"…huh, that's…cool I guess." Nuria replied with a shrug. "So you really like all this creepy shit then?"

"Of course! Who doesn't?" The sniper replied with as of then unknown level of enthusiasm, turning around with such speed that Nuria was almost impressed. "The Grimm are absolute terrifying marvels of nature. They become stronger with age unlike us, their biodiversity is immense. And last but certainly not least, they can track humans though means that we don't even understand. Tracking us though our fear, our darker thoughts? How could any natural creature possibly develop such senses? They are the absolute when it comes to darkness…they are beautiful." Umbra finished, staring off into space with an almost dreamy expression on her face, the same kind of face most girls would make when talking about their crushes.

"O-Oh…that's not creepy in the least."Nuria tired to reply as calmly as she could while stepping away, her opinion on her partner's mental stability falling even lower.

But Umbra didn't seem all that disturbed, huffing lightly before crossing her arms. "Right, that's exactly what I would expect from such normal fools. But when I one day work out one of the most important fundamental clues regarding this world you'll change your tune." And with that she turned back to her beakers, swilling one of them to get a better look at its contents.

"W-well, I think that's enough pondering the meaning of nature for one morning don't you?" Aqua finally interjected with a strained smile on her face as she moved to stand at the front of the room. "Should we head down and join teams RWBY and JNPR for breakfast." She continued, Nuria turning to stare at Lucina as the team leader continued to plan their day.

Just as Nuria expected, the young dust mage had tensed at the mention of meeting with Jaune's team. Sure, Nuria could see where she was coming from…somewhat, but she couldn't honestly expect to keep avoiding this forever.

 _Eh, what the hell; I'll cover for her today. If for no other reason than to make up for Aqua's babying._ The brown haired Huntress in training decided before placing a hand on Aqua's shoulder and grinning widely. "Sure, I'm down for some grub. You commin' Lucina?"

The black haired girl instantly recognized Nuria's peace offering, smiling slightly before shaking her head. "U-um actually, there's something I still need to do to get ready. Can I just meet you there?"

Aqua opened her mouth, likely seeing right though Lucina's attempt to weasel out of a shared breakfast, but Nuria beat her to the punch. "Sure, just don't take too long. Let's go girls." And with that the one armed warrior began to gently push the Pinkette from the dorm room, Umbra quickly following after.

The walk down to the cafeteria was mostly quiet, excluding the occasionally mumbles from Umbra, but before long Aqua turned to pout at Nuria. "You are aware that you cannot continue to coddle her forever correct? She will at one point have to step outside her comfort zone."

Nuria laughed at that smacking the axe wielder on the back with her still flesh hand. "Oh? You picked up on that huh?"

"Of course, you underestimate my powers of observation."

"You sure it's just not 'cause you do the same?" Nuria replied coyly before continuing. "Just give her some time alright. She's not as comfortable with crowds just yet."

"…Very well. But I will not allow her to continue with acts that will bring shame onto the name of all Huntresses."

Breakfast was mostly the same as always. With Ruby expressing disappointment at the still absent dust mage, Nora telling some tall tale about beating an absolutely insane amount of Ursa, Ren refuting her instantly, the usual stuff. But on the other hand there was something different. Both Ruby and Pyrrha occasionally stared at Jaune with worried expressions, said blonde teen playing with his food with a look of concentration on his face.

"Um…Jaune, is something wrong?" Pyrrha eventually decided to ask, all eyes at the table turning to stare at the now startled boy.

"Huh? Oh ya, nothing's wrong…why?"

"Well, it's just that you seem a little…not ok." Ruby added, a few teens around the table nodding in agreement.

 _That's the understatement of the year; he's acting like a girl who just got dumped._ Nuria couldn't help but think as Jaune tried to deny their claims, a smile so painfully fake on his face that not even Nora believed him.

"Jaune, is this because of Cardin? Because he's been picking on you ever since the first week?" Pyrrha continued with a somewhat more forceful tone, Jaune staring at her like she was crazy.

"Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to, you know, mess around and stuff. Practical jokes and the like."

"You can't honestly believe that, he "messes" with you so much that I wouldn't be surprised if he got dumped by someone in your family." Nuria scoffed.

"Oh ya that's right! Maybe one of your sisters got together with-."

"Oh god Nora, don't put an image like that in my mind please!" Jaune cried out at the excitable hammer wielding girl, said teen laughing lightly as Ren pulled her back to her seat.

"He's a bully, plain and simple." Ruby commented while Jaune tried to deny it, asking when exactly he had been so called bullied.

"Well, he knocks your books out of your hands, messes with your equipment, and even forced you into a rocket propelled locker." Pyrrha listed off easily.

"…you got to admit though, watching Jaune blast off into space was pretty funny." Nuria couldn't help but comment, ignoring the quick glares from the others at her comment.

"Nonsense, Winchesters actions reflect poorly on the school itself." Aqua immediately refuted, the table looking over the sea of heads to see Cardin only proving Pyrrha's and Ruby's points, the leader of team CRDL currently pulling on a rabbit Faunus's ears and laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"You know, if you ever require help, you can just ask us." Pyrrha offered as once again Nora leapt from her seat.

"Oh, we can break his legs! That'll teach him!"

"Or just return his darkness back a hundred fold, I know of a few darker corners of Vale where we could gather some rather messy entrails to place where he feels did seem to react poorly to those images of disemboweled Huntsmen that Goodwitch showed us after all." Umbra offered, Nora nodding along with her while the others turned to gawk at her.

"W-well…leaving aside the idea of turning their room into a murder scene, I'm fine. And its not like he's just a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune admitted and stood up, the other members of team JNPR and team RWBY following shortly after.

"…I cannot honestly believe that Beacon allowed that boy into its halls. He can barely hold his sword right let alone control his aura. What was the headmaster thinking?" Aqua thought out loud, Nuria turning to the team leader with a curious expression.

"Well, they did let that bastard Cardin in so it's not like they are that strict on entry requirements." _Plus, it's not like Lucina and I were on the right side of the law to begin with so it might but be that you just have to be breathing to apply nowadays._

"That is hardly the same thing. Winchester may not have the most desirable of personalities but his skills are at least on par with what a future Huntsmen should display. But that boy…it's like he's never held a sword in his life."

"If you think he's bad then I can't wait for you to see Lucina try her hand at sword fighting." Nuria replied with a humorless chuckle, completely ignoring the team leader's curious expression. "But ya, I get your point. He is kinda wet around the ears for a first year at Beacon."

"It doesn't matter." Umbra spoke up her face a mask of uncaring. "Whatever happens with JNPR isn't our concern when we have our own issues to work out."

That was true; Aqua's team building plan wasn't just to grow closer but also because they were beginning to fall behind the other first year teams. While they may have had the edge in some of the pair duels, as their team held a surprisingly good balance of offence and defense, when a member of team LUNA was in a one on one they tended to do poorly with the exception of Nuria herself as she was the only one of their team who was completely at ease with full frontal combat. Umbra and Lucina tended to fall apart pretty quickly in one on ones, Umbra only having a bayonet on the end of her rifle to fend off close encounters while Lucina could only rely on her Semblance to defend her, as she had almost no training in hand to hand to speak of and her dust blasts were easy to avoid if you could see her use the crystals. From what Nuria had seen Aqua had about a fifty-fifty chance of victory, her semblance giving her a defensive edge but her weapons long reach being a double edged sword when someone managed to get in between her and her weapon, an occurrence that tended to happen pretty often considering how close range most of the other first years were.

"Of course, I believe the best way to improve would be to have one on one fights of our own, and considering that our resident dust mage has decided yet again to skip out on breakfast perhaps it would be prudent for both Nuria and myself to test her combat prowess." Aqua decided with a less that pleasant smile on her face.

 _Ouch…well, you made this bed Lucina, time for you to sleep in it._

* * *

Lucina couldn't help but groan as she shifted slightly in order to try and get more comfortable, the itchiness of the shingles she was resting on only slightly mitigated by the cold night air around her.

The day had been absolutely awful, from not getting to eat breakfast because of her need to avoid a certain someone to getting beaten up by both Nuria and Aqua at the same time! What did she do to deserve that? The only positive thing had been the Remnant history class, she hadn't even heard of the Faunus war before as her mom wasn't much for talking about world history during their travels.

Hence why she was currently lying down on the roof of the dorm with an absolutely massive history book on her lap. Normally she would have just read on her bed or in the library, but Aqua had been pestering her more and more about her habits and the library was closed at this point so she needed to find a new place to be alone.

And the roof served perfectly for her needs. Lucina hadn't seen anyone up on the roof as of yet, not even Nuria or the others on her team, marking it as the perfect hideaway to learn more about a world that she clearly knew very little about.

Or it had been, up until a few minutes ago when both Jaune and the woman she had been avoiding since the start of school walked through the door to stare at the rooftops of Beacon. Pyrrha looking content while Jaune looked melancholy to say the least.

 _Wh-why are they here?...I-I can't let them see me here._ The black haired girl thought in panic as she tried to maneuver towards the door. She could hear that they were talking quietly to themselves about something, Pyrrha talking in an almost chipper tone while Jaune looked more upset as time went on. But Lucina only cared slightly about what they were talking about, she didn't really have anything against Jaune, but she really didn't want to get involved in someone else's problems. She already had enough to deal with what with both of her jobs down in Vale and keeping up with schoolwork. Not to mention that Nuria would rip her head off if she did something as stupid as get involved in another teams drama.

But her desire to remain uninvolved went unheeded by whoever watched them from up on high, as Jaune finally lost his calm and raised his voice to the point where the black haired girl could hear it. "I didn't go to combat school! I didn't pass any stupid tests! I didn't earn my spot in this academy! I lied! I faked my transcripts just to get here!"

Lucina froze at that, the two continuing their heated argument as she hid behind one of the many smokestacks that dotted the roof. If she was being honest with herself, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed in Jaune for doing what he did to get here. She had thought that he wasn't a bad guy at first but he cheated his way in? It almost felt like he had betrayed them by deceiving them like that.l Sure, she hadn't exactly been an upstanding citizen before Ozpin had forced them into the fold, but lying was one of the one things that Lucina hated people doing.

Because every interaction she had with others was a lie in and of itself, and it broke her a little inside when she did so.

"Then let me help you Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted back, beginning to look upset, but Jaune would have none of it.

"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress that needs saving! I want to be the hero! I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in trees while everyone else fights for their lives! If I can't do this on my own then what good am I?"

Lucina felt a pang of sympathy for the red headed Huntress as Jaune stepped away from her, the spear wielder taking a step back herself before retreating from the upset blonde. But her sympathy evaporated when Cardin jumped up onto the roof with a smug look on his face. She couldn't hear their conversation anymore, as Cardin put Jaune in a headlock and spoke in whispers, but if he had heard the preceding conversation then his intentions couldn't be good. Even with her lack of contact with the blonde's team she could see that the mace wielder wasn't exactly good friends with the Jaune.

 _Th-this is getting complicated…I need to get out of here._ Lucina decided as Cardin went back down the way he came, leaving a dejected Jaune on his knees looking absolutely awful. This was the perfect chance for Lucina to escape, while the blonde was distracted, so she started to make her way towards the door as quietly as she could.

But once again fate conspired against her, as one of the many shingles she was walking over broke away, shattering on the ground beneath them and drawing the blonde's startled gaze.

For a moment neither of them spoke, Lucina in mid step while Jaune simply stared at her like she was a ghost. But the moment was over when Juane's mind seemed to finally snap back into focus, the sword and shield wielder jumping up with a horrid expression.

"L-Lucina? What are you- did you hear-…oh god I'm in trouble aren't I?"

"…No?" Lucina tentatively replied, hoping that it gave her a way out.

"Please Lucina! You can't let anyone know about this! Not your teammates or Goodwitch!"

"I won't, I really, really won't." Lucina continued to deny, but from the look on Jaune's face he didn't believe her in the slightest.

"N-no, you're going to be just like Winchester! Holding this over my head to get me to do what you want or something else just as bad!" The boy was beginning to fall apart now, Lucina had seen it often enough in their less than legal line of work to recognize the signs, and was beginning to grasp at straws. "So I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

Lucina couldn't help but sigh as she stared up at the shattered moon, her plans of avoiding team JNPR suddenly becoming much more complex for the immediate future.

* * *

Jaune couldn't help but sigh as he stealthily followed after the young dust mage from a reasonable distance. To say that the last week had been difficult would be like saying Grimm were generally an issue, something obvious and something everyone understood.

Ever since he had stupidly run his mouth to his partner Cardin had been running him ragged, asking for everything from expensive food down in Vale to doing his entire teams homework for them, all the while pretending like they were the best of friends. Pyrrha still wasn't speaking to him, although she couldn't exactly blame her for ignoring a loser like him after finding out the truth. And every moment he wasn't working on some dumb project for that stupid mace jerk he was following around Lucina like he was her shadow, something that had earned him more than a few bruises from Nuria when he tried to follow the young dust mage into places he wasn't welcome.

But what was he supposed to do? Trust her to just keep to herself on the fact that he was at Beacon by breaking the rules? No…no, no, no! He barely knew the first thing about the young Huntress in training, how was he supposed to know what she was going to do with so much dirt on him. Sure, she hadn't done much of anything yet, but that was likely just because Jaune wasn't letting her out of his sight rather than her just not caring about it...right?

And that was why he was currently trailing after her as she made her way to the library, Lucina wearing a glum expression all the while. "Are you really coming with me?" she eventually asked, staring back as they reached the entrance of the library.

"Of course, an Arc never goes back on his word...even if that word doesn't mean much after what I did, but still I can't let you out of my sight!" Jaune replied, loudly at first but his shoulders slouching downward the further along he got.

Lucina glared lightly at him for a moment more before sighing and turning back to the door. Jaune hadn't really gotten to know the girl all that well over the last week, but he did learn that she didn't really confront others unless she was forced to, leaving most of his beatings for Nuria to handle, and as such so long as Jaune didn't do anything stupid she wouldn't push back.

…and he did have to go to the library anyway because Cardin wanted another report for Remnant studies.

The two first years moved though the library in relative silence before reaching the back of the massive room where Jaune was surprised to see the rabbit Faunus from a few days ago sitting at a desk in the far corner, the girl smiling at the sight of Lucina before noticing Jaune and frowning nervously.

"H-hello Lucina…W-who is this?" The girl greeted quietly, shifting her gaze between the two.

"He's Jaune and he won't stop following me so I brought him along…is it alright?" Lucina informed, both girls now ignoring the confused blonde.

"W-well…I suppose it's fine if he doesn't…do anything." The girl, a girl Jaune recognized as Velvet from their Remnant History class, replied with a nervous smile.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm harmless." _And that's kinda the reason I'm in this mess to begin with so I'm not really lying._ Jaune defended as he sat down with a massive book to get to work on Cardin's homework.

He could practically feel Velvet's cautious gaze on him for a few more seconds before she finally turned to the younger dust mage. "Well then Lucina, you said you wanted to work on gravity dust today right?"

"Yes…I have some experience with it in infused into objects but otherwise I don't understand how to manipulate it very well...it usually just flattens me instead of my target." Lucina replied with more enthusiasm than the young blonde had ever heard come from her lips.

But it wasn't really the surprising amount of levity that caught Jaune's attention, it was the context. _Hang on…Lucina, the same Lucina who chains people up and swings them around like human yo-yo's, doesn't understand how to use gravity dust? But how…_ Jaune tried to think, he thought that dust usage and such was one of the first things taught at the primary schools, especially for someone who relied so heavily on the stuff. How the heck did Lucina manage to get in without some of the most basic dust knowledge? Was she…was she just like him?

Apparently the question on his mind was also on his face as well, as both girls seemed to have noticed his strange expression and turned to him with curious gazes. "U-um…I-is there something wrong?" Velvet eventually asked, shifting in her seat nervously.

"Well not really wrong but…Lucina, aren't you a dust mage already? Why the heck are you asking about how to use the stuff?" Jaune eventually worked up the courage to ask.

Lucina for her part simply tilted her head in confusion. "…because I'm not that good at it? My mom only ever taught me to use wind and fire dust and I had to learn how to use my semblance all on my own so I thought that I could learn some more." The black haired girl explained carefully, like she was suspicious of why Jaune would ask.

"But aren't you…embarrassed or something? I mean, didn't they teach you all about that stuff in whatever combat school you went to before here?"

"Oh…I didn't go to combat school." Lucina replied in a neutrally as her gaze shifted away, both Velvet and Jaune staring at her like she had grown a third eye.

"No way!" Jaune immediately blurted out, everyone nearby in the former quiet library turning to stare in their direction causing Jaune's cheeks to heat up and a humorless chuckle to escape from his lips. "What I meant to say was, how did that happen? The only way to get in without going through one of the primary schools is to…"

"To get scouted by a Huntsmen and get their recommendation..." Velvet finished with an almost awestruck look on her face. "Wow, you must know some pretty powerful people to get in with just a good word alone." The Faunus complemented, Lucina flinching slightly for reasons Jaune couldn't understand.

"R-right…but Nuria and I never went to combat school, any school actually. Just we just kinda…had to go here."

 _Nuria too? How come they got all the lucky breaks…maybe Snow Angel's curse last time i tried to flirt with her really stuck._ "But well…aren't you embarrassed to be asking for help? Not that there's anything wrong with Velvet mind you!" Jaune quickly defended when Velvet shot him a look of hurt. "But aren't Huntsmen and Huntresses supposed to be one man armies? The greatest fighters in the world? They aren't supposed to ever ask for help."

It was true, from what little he remembered of his grandfather and from all the stories his dad would tell the family the men in the Arc family were natural born fighters, stronger than anyone else. But nowhere in any of the stories did the old man mention them needing help learning the ropes. They didn't need someone there holding their hands, so why would he? He was an Arc too wasn't he? Why did he have so much trouble when everyone else seemed to just glide through all the lessons?

But his more depressing thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Lucina staring at him with an expression that, in all honesty, made him very uncomfortable. It was like she could see right through him, like he was only a pile of Dust to be studied and examined. But just as quickly as the gaze came it vanished, Lucina turning her eyes downward with a pink tint to her cheeks.

"U-um…do you mind if I ask you something Jaune?" The young dust mage eventually asked, Jaune nodding slowly in confirmation. "Do you think Nuria's strong?"

"Nuria? I mean, sure; she's got that metal arm and that shield and stuff, and what's her Semblance do again?"

"Immolate, she burns things from the inside out so long as she can touch them and concentrate on it for a few seconds."

"Right that, she sounds like someone who's pretty strong, and from the few matches I've had against her I'd say she kinda backs up that claim." Jaune said with a grimace, feeling a few phantom pains in his chest from where the metal armed berserker's fist struck.

"Mmm…and do you think she was always that strong?"

"Well…no, unless she was born with a metal arm…she wasn't born with a metal arm right?"

"No, I don't think so. But I've never really asked." Lucina admitted with an almost worried expression on her face for a moment before she shook her head, her expression returning to one of neutrality. "So do you think she was always that strong?"

"Ya I guess, isn't that how it is with all of you?" Jaune replied with a shrug, stopping in shock when both Lucina and Velvet shook their heads in refusal.

"Jaune; Nuria used to be just as weak as you if not weaker. She wasn't born with the knowledge of how to send someone flying across an arena."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Jaune grumbled as Lucina realized her inadvertent insult, the younger girl waving her hands in front of her face in embarrassment.

"I-I'm just saying that she didn't know how to fight like she does now when I first met her, and when I first learned what my Semblance was I was just as likely to wrap myself as my target." The younger girl continued with an even worse blush on her cheeks. "But we didn't get better just by ourselves. We fought together and fought a lot to get where we are."

"But what about people like Ruby and Pyrrha? You can't honestly tell me that they got to where they are with someone babying them every step of the way." Jaune accused, beginning to grow annoyed with the younger girl. She was there that night, listening in on them talking, how did she not understand? Jaune couldn't let himself be so weak as to ask others for help, what was the point of being a Huntsman if he couldn't tackle his problems himself.

"…Yes?" Lucina replied in a questioning tone.

"Awha I'm sorry what now?" Jaune dumbly returned, Lucina's quick reply throwing him for a loop.

"W-well I mean, I don't really know about Pyrrha, but Ruby mentioned something about an uncle and her dad training with her pretty often back when she went to Signal."

"But that's…" Jaune tried to argue, to put some point forward, if it was that easy then…

"U-um…if I may say something?" Velvet chose that moment to chime in, both first years jumping slightly having forgotten she was there which caused her to chuckle lightly. "When I first got here I wasn't on the same level of my peers. It was hard…b-but then I met Coco and the others! And with their help I got a lot better!"

"Without my team…I don't think I would be here anymore."

Jaune leaned back in his chair and all but gaped at the two Huntresses-in-training before sighing heavily. "Alright, alright, I get it. You made your point, just…give me some time ok?" Jaune finally relented, staring down at the book in front of him but not even bothering to go for his pen; his thoughts so all over the place that he couldn't even consider working on Cardin's homework.

Their little group went back to work, Velvet once again schooling Lucina in the art of gravity dust but as time continued to crawl by Jaune couldn't help but think back to the day in the cafeteria. "Hey, uh, Velvet?" Jaune started, the brown haired girl looking up from the diagram she had been showing Lucina. "I just wanted to say sorry for not helping you in the cafeteria that day…you know."

At first Velvet looked confused, before finally remembering the specific instance that her underclassman was referring too. "Oh, don't worry about it. Normally Coco or one of my teammates would be there…and it was hardly the first time I've dealt with that kind of stuff." The rabbit Faunus replied with a pained smile.

"Still, I know dealing with Cardin can be a pain, figuratively and physically, and for me it's just blackmail. I can't imagine how bad he gets what with the whole anti-Faunus thing."

"Yes well…most of the time he's too afraid of Yatsuhashi to do much of anything unless I'm by myself." Velvet chuckled, Jaune following her lead.

But the chuckling quickly stopped when both noticed a chilling killing intent in the air, Jaune feeling like someone was pressing a blade against his neck and from the look on Velvets face she felt almost the same.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Jaune heard Lucina question, her words polite but her tone implied anything but calmness. The blonde teen turned slowly to stare at one of the two youngest trainees in the school and was shocked by what he saw.

Lucina was staring at him with a completely alien look in her eyes. Gone was the strange, shy girl who never understood his pickup lines. Instead, Jaune almost felt like he was staring down a very furious Goodwitch, something he had been on the receiving end of enough to know what that look meant.

Lucina was pissed beyond belief, and Jaune was terrified that it was directed at him.

"I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. Please don't kill me; I'll even stop with the pickup lines if you spare me!" Jaune quickly apologized with his hands in front of his face, praying that she wouldn't do anything drastic at least in public.

"I don't care about what you did, what did Cardin do?" Lucina continued in the same cold tone as before. Jaune, still fearing for his safety, quickly explained everything that had happened the other day, Velvet for her part looking embarrassed to be the center of attention.

Lucina waited until Jaune had finished before slowly turning her Weiss-worthy stare on the rabbit Faunus, said girl flinching under the icy gaze. "…is that true?"

"W-well…I guess? But it's really not that big of a deal! I-it's not something you need to worry about." Velvet quickly tried to deny.

For a moment Lucina said nothing, simply stared at the older dust mage until she flinched and looked away, but eventually the black haired girl stood slowly up. "…thank you for the help today Velvet, but I have something else I need to take care of…bye." And with that Lucina began to quickly stroll away.

Jaune remained seated for a second more, trying to figure out what exactly was happening, but when his mind finally kicked into gear he all but leapt from his seat to chase after the strangely furious Dust mage. "H-heya Lucina, Y-you're not gonna go do what I think you're gonna do…"

"I'm going to go teach Cardin a lesson he won't forget." Lucina confirmed in the same cold tone she had been using before.

"Wha-but that's crazy! Cardin's one of the physically strongest freshmen in our class, even you can't keep him all chained up for long." From what Jaune had seen Lucina's ability to bind people was completely dependent on how strong her target was. And when it was used against people like Yang and Cardin, two of the strongest first years around, her chains would only slow them down temporarily.

"…then I won't use my chains." Lucina stubbornly continued as she made her way through the halls with a clear destination in mind. It was common knowledge that Cardin and his flunkies hung out in the training areas after classes, and from where Lucina was headed it was clear that was her destination. "I'll just cut him down."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot you had that thing." Jaune commented before blinking a few times in confusion. "But do you even know how to use it? I mean, no offence, but I don't think I've seen you draw it since that first day."

"…I know that the pointed end goes into whoever I want to fight." Lucina admitted, her embarrassed tone and pink cheeks warming the ice cold demeanor she had been wearing only seconds ago.

"That's even worse! Why do you want to go through with this? Because of me? Cause' I'm flattered and all but-."

"It's not for you." Lucina interrupted, her Weiss-like tone returning as she stopped and turned around to face Jaune, the blonde freezing at the fury in her eyes. "You told me not to interfere in your problem so I won't. This is because of what he did to Velvet."

Jaune stared at the younger Huntress with his mouth wide open, trying to process what she was saying. "Seriously? I mean, I get that he's some racist bastard but still…why?" he questioned, half expecting the younger girl to rip him a new one for standing in her way.

But, to his continued shock, her icy gaze gave way to a look that was part sorrow, part longing. "Because I can't accept judging someone based on looks…that's just too cruel." She admitted, more than a little fear in her voice as she did so.

Jaune gaped at the younger girl, completely floored by the sudden sadness in her voice. But before he could ask her about it the cold fury returned to her gaze and she turned back towards the training arenas.

"And because of that I won't stand for Cardin's racism, and if I have to teach him a lesson he won't forget then I have no problem with it." And with that she continued on her way, Jaune only hesitating for a moment more before hurrying after her.

The two first years walked through the halls in silence before finally arriving at their destination. Jaune could see a lot of their fellow first years hanging around the rings that dotted the room, some groups actively fighting while others simply stood around and talked. He could see Yang and Blake in one of the arenas and could even see Nuria, or as Nora called her the crazy arm chick, lifting some of the weights that were in one of the corners of the room.

But it didn't take long for Jaune to see Cardin and the rest of his team sitting in the center of one of the training rings, doing nothing in particular but laughing occasionally at something Jaune couldn't hear. It wasn't a second after that Jaune assumed that Lucina saw her target, the chill in the air almost physical as she stormed across the room, Jaune only hesitating for a second before following. It didn't take long for the mace wielder to notice their approach, his arrogant grin only growing wider when he noticed Jaune flanking the black haired dust mage.

"Well, well, if it isn't Jauney boy, did you finish up that homework for me yet? Because it's something I really need done and really appreciate my friend doing for me." The team leader of CRDL mocked, his other three minions laughing as Jaune turned away and ground his teeth. But before he could swallow his pride and reply to his blackmailer Lucina stepped forward and pointed at the brown haired boy.

"Cardin Winchester…fight me...now." She declared in the same cold tone as before, everyone in earshot gawking at her as she challenged the mace wielder.

Cardin blinked slowly at first before laughing loudly. "Oh this is too rich! Jauney boy, you're so weak now that you had to get one of the two squirts in our class to fight for you? Gotta say I expected better of someone who had the balls to do what you did." He continued as he stood up and sneered down at the black haired girl. "As much as I would love to throw down, I've got better things to do than play around with a little girl a coward sent after me. Why don't you go play with the other kid, I'm sure you've got some dolls or tea sets to mess with or somethin'."

Jaune couldn't help but flinch as Cardin and his team mates started to laugh, expecting the furious dust mage in front of him to coldly retort or something like that. But Lucina went against all their expectations and instead started to giggle, using the back of her hand to cover her mouth as she stared up at the taller male with a gaze that was almost patronizing.

"How cute, it's almost like you think you're my equal."

Cardin's laugh died almost instantly, a feral scowl now on his face as he towered over the little dust mage. "…What was that?" he returned in a threatening tone, a tone that Lucina just continued to laugh lightly at.

"I don't believe that I stuttered but if you need me to say it again that's fine with me. I think it's just precious that you think that Jaune put me up to this or that you're stronger than me…so cute." She repeated with another chuckle that would've been cute if it weren't for the context behind her laugh.

Jaune didn't need to see Cardin's face to know that Lucina's taunts had gotten to the older student, but the blood all rushing to his face as he leaned in closer certainly made it obvious what he was planing to say. "Fine then bitch, lets settle this in the ring. I'm looking forward to mopping the floor with you." Cardin growled out as he stormed past, his three teammates following shortly after to the male locker room while Lucina headed to her own, likely to retrieve her blade.

Jaune simply stood there, rooted to the spot, as he tried to understand what exactly had happened, Lucina's fury and her now newly discovered condescending attitude were both shocks to the blonde swordsman, and he couldn't help but wonder if the embarrassed and quiet impression he had gotten so far was actually the real Lucina. Unfortunately, his thoughts were interrupted when a metallic hand grabbed him by the back of his hood, dragged him to a corner, and proceeded to pin him to the wall.

"Alright Arc, you have exactly ten seconds to tell me what the hell is going on before I beat it out of you." Nuria threatened, Blake and Yang rushing over to them before the brown haired girl could do something.

"Whoa there, let's just calm down alright?" Yang said as she grabbed Nuria's shoulder, the two brawlers exchanging glances before Nuria finally sighed and released Jaune, much to the blonde's relief.

"Right sorry…forgot that getting super pissed is supposed to be your thing." Nuria shot back, Yang simply scoffing in response, before she turned back to Jaune. "But don't think you're leaving this corner without talkin'. I've only seen Lucina like that once before and it didn't end well for the guys who made her like that, so talk."

"I-I really don't know!" Jaune shout-whispered back, his frustrations finally boiling over. "We were just talking with Velvet-."

"Velvet?"

"Oh uh, a Faunus upperclassman that's helping her with her dust. I mentioned that breakfast the other day when Cardin was being an ass and she got all crazy on us before storming out and saying she was gonna challenge him to a fight." Jaune explained, noticing out of the corner of his eye how Blake seemed to freeze for a second at the mention of the Faunus but was too concerned with his wellbeing at that moment to think on it too hard.

Nuria glared at him for a few seconds more before sighing heavily and rubbing her temple with her metallic hand. "Right, she would lose her cool over something like that."

"Really? She seemed pretty fiery when she stormed in." Yang joked, Nuria sighing even heavier after that.

"It does seem like she was quite angry…but why would she?" Blake questioned quietly as the four turned to see that Cardin was already out on one of the many platforms, one of the assistant professors already there to arbitrate the fight.

"Oh right, she mentioned something about that. Something along the lines of she can't stand for people being judged based off of looks." Jaune recalled, Nuria's face softening as he did so.

"Ya…that sounds like something she would say." the one armed huntress muttered, the others staring at her curiously but not questioning her change in demeanor.

The four first years watched as more and more students began to circle the arena, apparently someone having sent out a scroll message about the upcoming fight, before Lucina finally walked out of the female locker room, a scarab at her side and a determined look on her face. Cardin however remained unimpressed, his mace slung over his shoulder as he smirked down at his challenger. "Hah, so you actually have a weapon? I thought you were too weak to actually use one."

Lucina simply glared back, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade. "I can use it. In fact, I don't plan to use my Semblance to beat you, your just too pathetic to bother with it." She challenged in the same cold tone she had been using earlier, Cardin's fury only growing in response.

"Enough you two." The professor in charge of the arena for the day intervened. "I expect you to both abide by normal duel rules here. No fatal attacks and the winner will be determined when one's aura falls into the red, understood?" he asked, both combatants nodding in response.

"Yay! Go Lucina! Try and break his legs!" Jaune heard Nora yell from somewhere out in the crowd, the professor glaring in her direction before returning his attention to the fight.

"Well then…begin!" the Professor announced to a cheer from the crowd. Cardin apparently decided to be a little more cautious than normal, as he hadn't rushed immediately in, but when he saw Lucina's black blade with the strange hole down its length he laughed loudly.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?! You broke your sword or something? Common now, I might like picking on people but this is gonna be ridiculous-." Cardin tried to insult, but stopped when Lucina drew a fire dust crystal from the side of the sheath, Jaune for his part couldn't help but be curious. Sure, Lucina was a dust mage so it only made sense for her to use dust at some point. But a crystal as opposed to powdered dust? How was she going to control it? Because if she didn't the Professor would likely stop the fight for use of too much force.

Lucina for her part simply smiled angelically as she slowly ran the dust crystal down the length of the blade. Jaune, and nearly every member of the audience, watched in shock as rather than sparking from the contact like normal, the strange runic letters on the blade began to glow with the same crimson glow as the the dust crystal itself.

"It's a shame that you don't understand what this is Winchester. But you should consider yourself lucky. You're about to get a first hand demonstration of a dust-forged blade." Lucina warmly commented as she placed the fire dust in the hole in her blade and let go. However the crystal didn't fall through like Jaune expected and instead hovered in the center of the hole, the inner edges of the blade glowing with the telltale purple light of gravity dust before the crystal exploded into a miniature fireball, its crimson energy somehow being held in the center of the hole forming what looked like a miniature sun.

"Impossible! How in Remnant did she get a dust forged blade?" Weiss all but shouted, the white haired heiress and the leader of Team RWBY having joined their little group at some point.

"A what?" Jaune replied dumbly, Weiss shooting him a glare before returning her gaze to the arena, Lucina's blade now glowing with the same crimson energy that was held in the center of her blade.

"Dust forged weaponry follow the same principles of dust infused clothing worm in previous eras but far more dangerous. The steel that comprises the weapon is laced with various forms of dust during its forging, a strenuous process due to the natural volatile nature of the substance, until it is infused into said weapon. It could be considered a predecessor to my own Myrtenaster, abet far more chaotic and much more difficult to control. They have fallen out of favor due to the sheer difficulty in both creating and wielding such power but they are quite powerful...and if she has an inkling of how to use that weapon this fight should be quite one sided."

"You really know your stuff Ice Queen." Nuria commented with an impressed tone, Weiss glaring back at the brown haired brawler, before staring back at the two dueling students. "Just watch, this is one of the rare times where Lucina is actually serious."

Jaune turned back to the arena just in time to watch Cardin charge in, a battle cry on his lips and his mace held up over his head. Lucina for her part simply held out her sword in front of her, and even with his own poor understanding of combat the blonde warrior could see that she really didn't have any stance to speak of, looking more like a kid holding a blade than a huntress in training. Cardin as well seemed to notice her lack of sword skills, a confident grin on her face as he swung the mace down clearly intending to batter the girl into submission while Lucina simply braced herself for the coming blow, her casual grin never leaving her face.

The two weapons finally clashed, but rather than the younger combatant being sent flying by Cardin's superior strength the opposite occurred, the moment the two weapons met a massive fireball consumed the racist student, sending him flying backwards with wisps of smoke trailing from his form and an absolutely shocked expression on his face.

Lucina chose that moment to go on the offensive, rushing forward with her blade held out awkwardly in front of her. Cardin attempted to beat her away, but Lucina managed to get past his guard and slashed the older trainee across the chest, a similar explosion to the first occurring once again.

Time and time again the two first years exchanged blows, Cardin clearly being the stronger of the two, but no matter what he tried he was unable to get through her explosive guard. What Lucina lacked in physical strength she more than made up for in speed and control of dust. Sure, the explosive bursts of fire were not just directed outward and her aura had taken more than a few hits from friendly fire, but the amount of damage that the explosions had dealt to the older fighter more than made up for it. And after only a few minutes Cardin was panting on his knees, his aura just barely above the red line.

"That's all? How disappointing." Lucina sighed as re-sheathed her blade, the glowing embers of fire dust swirling through the air as the blade was returned to its holder.

"D-damn bitch…" Cardin cursed as green glyphs appeared around his form an ember covered chain shooting out of it to enclose the mace wielder.

The dust mage slowly strolled up to the older boy and leaned in close to whisper something, and whatever she said must have been something terrifying, as Cardin paled instantly before muttering to the Professor that he was giving up, signaling the end of the match. The gathered onlookers instantly began to cheer, clearly having enjoyed the match a little too much. And for the first time Lucina seemed to realize just how many people had gathered to watch her fight, her face instantly going through a few different shades of red before finally settling on the same color as Ruby's cloak, the black haired dust mage ducking her head and rushing from the room with Nuria hot on her heels.

Jaune continued to stare in the direction the two had run as the crowd began to disperse. Lucina was strange, there was no denying it at this point, but at least she had something she was willing to stand up for, something that pissed her off to the point she was willing to put herself out there to fight for it. When Cardin threatened him he just rolled over and took it, not willing to fight for the place he wanted to stay, the place he wanted to belong. So was there anything that he was willing to fight for?

His thoughts instantly went to his teammates, Nora and her hyperactivity, Ren and his quiet support, and Pyrrha who had tried to offer him a helping hand. Would he go the distance for them if push came to shove? Jaune's thoughts went back to the pep talk that Ruby had given him the other night, about how he had to do right by his team no matter what, that he wasn't allowed to fail anymore now that he was a leader.

 _Maybe…maybe it's time I do the right thing too._ Jaune decided as he walked out of the training area, already knowing that Cardin was likely to take out his loss on him.


	8. Chapter 8

"So on a scale of one to "Please oh god forgive this poor lost lamb" how are we feeling Lucina?" Nuria coyly asked the young black haired girl who was currently trying her hardest to force her face as far into her pillow as she could, said girl only groaning in response. The two of them were currently the only ones in the room, as Aqua was currently meeting with team RWBY for some reason that neither girl had been informed about or really cared about that much. While Umbra had gone to do whatever the thing she did down in Vale for the day.

It had been a few days since the youngest member of team LUNA had fought against the schools newest bully and ever since then the dust mage had regretted her decision. Having revealed her dust forged blade to the world she had been hounded by both Professor Peach and Goodwitch on examining said weaponry, as dust weapons were considered a relic of a time long past and any working example of such technology was worthy of study. And Weiss Schnee was just as adamant at examining her sword, who was followed almost immediately by an overly enthusiastic Ruby who decided that while not as cool as a weapon that turned into other things the sword was still pretty awesome.

Not that Lucina hated the thought of hanging out with the black haired team leader or her partner, but Lucina was breaking quite a few of their self-imposed rules by being around others, and doing so might reveal some secrets that the dust mage never wanted coming to light or else she would be faced with some difficult questions. And that didn't even take into consideration the fact that Jaune was still hovering just off to the side of Lucina whenever she left her dorm room, the blonde somehow becoming even more moody and quiet ever since Lucina's duel.

All in all it hadn't been a good few days for the off again on again thief, and that wasn't even taking into account the schoolwork that was beginning to pile up when she wasn't paying attention.

Nuria continued to laugh at her expense as she inspected one of her massive armor piercing shells for defects. "Well you don't have anyone to blame but yourself…after all, oh what was it you said…something along the lines of "how cute"? of course people would take notice of you now." she mocked, putting a hand in front of her mouth like Lucina had.

"Awwhaaa…please stop." The younger Huntress in training moaned as she tossed the pillow at the brown haired girl.

Removing the pillow from her face, Nuria continued to laugh as she raised her hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry, it's just so funny to see you act that way considering how quiet you normally are. At least if the world famous thief and huntress things fall through you could always go for acting. Maybe you could be in some hot steamy romance movie with Spruce Willis or something." She continued, Lucina once again groaning and burying her face in her bed.

"…Stop please." Lucina begged, her voice almost sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Lucina had always been quiet; preferring to allow Nuria to deal with others or even before that letting her mom talk to other travelers they met on the road. But once the two orphans had been forced to commit crimes in order to survive she couldn't exactly be a silent observer anymore. So the two teens had come up with an easy way for Lucina to interact with the unique…clientele that they came into contact with in their line of work that they weren't very close to like Junior and the twins.

She would lie through her teeth, pretending to be a condescending girl who would look down on others at all times and would laugh at their attempts to struggle against her. It worked, almost a little too well, and the younger of the twin phantoms had quickly gained a reputation in certain circles as a haughty girl who looked down on others.

The only downside was that Lucina absolutely hated acting that way, she absolutely abhorred looking down on others like that even if they were the scum of society. She hated it so much that ever since they had come up with the concept of her alter ego she had avoided using the word cute like it was the plague…and Nuria absolutely loved mentioning every situation in which she was forced to behave that way.

The two finally fell silent, Lucina still too tired and embarrassed to move while Nuria simply enjoyed their time alone, but eventually the brown haired Huntress sat down on the bed next to the black haired girl and began to run her hand through her hair. "Ok well, all playing around aside, why did you do that Lucina? Showing off your sword like that, didn't you think that it might come back to bite you in the...well, you know."

"…But he hurt Velvet...she...she didn't deserve that..." Lucina muttered into the sheets, Nuria sighing heavily in response.

"That rabbit Faunus right? She didn't ask you to do that but you did it anyway?" Nuria continued, Lucina nodding her head into her pillow. "Then why the hell did you think that was good idea?"

"But…but…he judged her just based off what she is and I…" Lucina actually started to cry quietly, the stress of the their situation finally starting to get to her. But before the tears could really begin to flow Nuria pulled the younger girl up and wrapped her in a tight hug, making sure to use her still human arm over her metallic one.

"I know…but no matter what, you can't keep letting your emotions get the better of you like that…otherwise someone's gonna find out and then everything you've worked for these last few weeks go up in smoke…even if it's something that you just can't accept, you'll just have to swallow your anger and turn away..at least for now."

"M-mmm…"

The two huntresses sat there for a few moments before Lucina finally got her sniffling under control and pulled away with a pink tint to her cheeks due to embarrassment.

But if the older fighter noticed she didn't comment on the pinkness, instead just smiling down at her companion for the last seven years. "Feelin' better?"

"…A little…sorry." Lucina apologized as she stood back up, Nuria casually waving her hand through the air as she stood as well.

"Eh, its fine. It's a nice change of pace to see you be the one to lose your cool after all." The older girl commented with a chuckle, Lucina groaning lightly in response. "...oh, now that I think about it, what the heck is the deal with you and Jaune? Did you finally decide to try your hand at dating?Cause' if so I feel like you can do better."

"Nurrriiiaaa." Lucina whined as she crossed her arms and looked away before answering. "…It's stupid, all I did was accidentally hear a conversation he didn't want me to hear. And now he won't leave me alone because he thinks I'm going to talk about it."

"…huh, well you're kinda screwed then ain't ya?" the brown haired girl commented blandly before laughing at the black haired girl's expense. "Well, don't worry about it too much, either he'll work it out himself or he'll get kicked out. Either way it works out for us….speaking about us, we've got another job tonight, or rather you do." Nuria continued with a serious expression as she held out a photo. "Junior wants us to track down a money launderer who's apparently trying to go to the cops or something along those lines."

Lucina frowned as she took the picture from the older woman, studying the man's face along with the aura that was captured in the picture. Part of the reason that the Twin Phantoms were so feared was their ability to track down individuals, but what most didn't know was that it was primarily the dust mage of the duo that was the tracker. After all, with eyes that could see a person's unique aura no matter how weak it was and a mind that was more than capable of memorizing them there were few that could escape her sight, even less so if she could recognize their light. It was what her eyes were meant to do after all.

"…Combat?" Lucina questioned as she studied the aura that had been captured in the picture, her eyes going over every detail of the man who was soon to become her prey.

"Nah, just find him and send a scroll message to the twins. They'll take it from there." Nuria answered as she frowned and placed a hand on her chin in thought. "Only question now is how exactly are we goin' to get you out of here without alerting Aqua and Umbra, with your whole sword thing out in the open I'd rather not answer questions about our less than legal activities."

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes before Nuria's scroll began to vibrate, the one armed huntress pulling it out and opening it up to see Aqua's smiling face staring up at her. "Hey leader, what's up?"

"Oh quite a bit!" The pink haired woman said with a chuckle before continuing. "I was just speaking to the members of team RWBY and JNPR and we have decided on a truly fabulous idea on how to spend the night before our mission in Forever Fall!" Lucina couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear at the mention of the other two freshmen teams, but the conversation continued on undisturbed. "We decided that we should head out to Vale proper and get a communal bite to eat, I believe pizza was the chosen dish, and as the leader of team LUNA I have decided that we shall join them!"

The two teens in the dorm room stared at each other, Lucina's eyes wide in terror while Nuria simply looked up to stare into the black haired girls eyes. "…Hey Aqua? Who exactly is gonna be there?...just out of curiosity."

"Oh, nearly everyone with the exception of mister Arc. Apparently he has some errand to run at a local exotic insect seller or something along those lines. But otherwise all other seven members of the other teams will be joining us. And I have already confirmed that Umbra will meet us after she purchases whatever supplies she went to Vale to procure."

Nuria couldn't help but snort as Lucina leapt to her feet and began to sprint towards the door. "You know that Lucina's not gonna go for something like that right?"

But contrary to what she expected, Aqua's smile only widened. "Oh, you don't have to worry about our dust mage. Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao Long have taken it upon themselves to ensure she will join us."

Nuria opened her mouth to ask just what exactly the pink haired axe wielder was talking about, but before she could utter a single syllable a loud crash and an effeminate squeak of surprise echoed from out in the hallway. The brown haired warrior looking up from her scroll to see a flash of long blonde hair going past the open door.

"I got her Yang! She's trying to get away but I got her!" Ruby shouted from somewhere out in the dorm, Yang hollering in victory in response.

"Great job sis! I got the tape and rope right here!"

Nuria waited for a moment, listening as the sounds of a struggle grew fainter as the youngest member of the team was subdued, before sighing and standing up and pocketing her scroll. "Well, I guess that's one way to find an excuse for Lucina to get down to town tonight."

After being bound even tighter than even her own semblance was capable of, Lucina finally agreed to join the others for dinner without the need of restraints. And so the four young women began making their way to the landing pads where the airships were waiting.

"So Lucina, never got the chance to tell you this after that duel but you were pretty cool. Not as cool as me mind you but still pretty awesome." Yang commented with a grin as they took their seats in the airship.

Lucina for her part simply blushed brightly and lowered her head. "T-thank you…it was nothing."

"No it wasn't! It was awesome!" Ruby shouted out as she jumped to her feet in excitement. "You were all like" Shiiiing!…whacha!...how cute!" she said as she made the motions of fighting with a sword before holding her hand in front of her mouth just like Lucina had done that day, Lucina's embarrassment only growing in direct proportion with every move the scythe wielder made. "I mean sure, your sword didn't turn into anything halfway through the match like it should have but it's still so cool! Did you make it yourself? What's its name?"

"N-no…M-my mom gave it to me…and I don't have a name for it, I didn't know I need one." Lucina eventually answered with a small smile, Nuria glancing at the younger girl out of the corner of her eye before returning her gaze to the window.

"Aww that's a shame, you should really name it then! Makes your weapon all the more awsomer! And that's cool that your mom gave it to you. Can she help me with making Crescent Rose even cooler then? Cause' having my baby explode into flames would be so awesome! Oh, or maybe Ice! Then Weiss won't be so cold all the time!"

The two members of team LUNA immediately tensed up at Ruby's question, Nuria whipping her head around to stare at Lucina, who had frozen up at the question.

"S-she…U-umm…" The black haired dust mage stuttered before Nuria placed a hand on her head, drawing the attention of both Ruby and Yang.

"Lucina's mom passed away over eight years ago." The brawler answered plainly, Ruby and Yang both sucking in a startled breath before Ruby lowered her head in regret.

"…I'm sorry." She apologized, Lucina shaking her head before forcing a smile back onto her face.

"No, its ok…it was a long time ago." Lucina tried to defuse the situation, but Ruby shook her head with faint tears in her eyes.

"No its not! Yang and I know what it's like to be without any mom around…and I'm…sorry." The scythe wielder muttered as she clutched her cloak, Yang putting an arm around her sister's shoulder and pulling her into a side hug, Ruby keeping her head down as she struggled with her emotions.

The silence between the four first years grew tense for a few moments before Lucina reached out and gently placed a hand on Ruby's own, the fellow black haired teen's head jumping back up in surprise to see Lucina genuinely smiling at her.

"…thank you." Lucina replied, her tone warm and thankful. Ruby immediately began to smile and blush, Yang and Nuria staring down at the two youngest members of the freshman class with smiles of their own.

As touching as this is, I think that's enough of a pity party for one day." The blonde brawler declared before launching into a talk about the most recent classes, Lucina paling in shock over the revelation that the most recent story from Professor Port was in fact heavily embellished, before the airship finally reached Vale proper and the four teens made their way to the pizza parlor that Aqua had indicated in her earlier call.

It wasn't long until they found the restaurant, a quaint little hole in the wall with an impressive patio for people to devour their grease meals on. Nuria instantly noticed Lucina tense up at the sight of the red haired huntress in training, but to the younger girls credit it was only for a moment…although she did try to hide behind Nuria instead.

Aqua noticed them almost immediately, waving calmly at them as they approached. "Ah, Nuria, Lucina, thank you for joining us…and I'm glad to see that you are unbound Lucina. I was certain they would need more than just rope and tape to get you to come."

"Nah, she was cool after awhile…only had to threaten to take away her chocolate for her to come with." Nuria explained, the dust mage puffing out her cheeks but not wanting to say anything.

But her hopes were quickly dashed when Pyrrha walked up with a friendly smile and held out her hand. "Hello again Lucina, I don't think we were ever properly introduced. I am Pyrrha Nikos; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"L-likewise." Lucina stiffly replied as they moved to their seats, a waitress quickly taking their orders before disappearing into the door of the restaurant. Lucina couldn't help but feel a little relived that no one was paying too much attention to her at first, most of the teens around her content to discuss school work and such, but it wasn't long until Nora jumped up and pointed an almost accusing finger at the young dust mage. "Oh ya! You! You've got an awesome sword! How the heck did you make it explode like that? It was awesome!"

Lucina couldn't help but blink owlishly at the question, the focus of the table being drawn to her while Ren sighed heavily. "Ever since she saw your match she has been insistent that we alter her Magnhild to behave similar to your own weapon. If you would be so kind as to inform her of how exactly it works I would be extremely grateful." The black haired youth asked, Lucina shuffling in her seat as she tried to think of a way to explain how Dust Forged weaponry worked in a way to finally put these questions to rest.

But fortunately for her, she didn't need to. As Weiss answered the question with an eyebrow raised in contempt. "For the last time, the dust would need to be forged into the very metal of your weapon at an early stage. There is no way for someone to go back and modify an already completed weapon like that, you fool." The heiress explained with barely contained anger, Lucina palling in fear at the thought that the two might come to blows.

However Nora simply ignored the insult at the end of the White haired woman's monologue, instead choosing to clutch her head with both hands and scream up into the twilight that had settled over the town. "Nooo! My dream is ruined...ah well, at least I can still make things go boom with my precious grenades."

Weiss scoffed at the pink haired bombers reaction before turning her withering glare on Lucina, the black haired dust mage doing just that under the gaze. "While I will admit that it was surprising to see a Dust-Forged weapon in this day and age, and as a fellow dust mage I will admit you do have some skills when it comes to your usage of raw dust crystals, don't think for a moment that I didn't notice your utter lack of skill in wielding your blade. Honestly, it looked like you barely understood which end was supposed to be used to attack."

"…You did seem somewhat uncomfortable with the weapon in hand. Is that why you don't normally use it?" Blake commented, speaking up for the first time since the meal began, her observation cutting nearly as deep as Weiss's own scathing remarks.

"U-umm…well…" Lucina muttered as Umbra began to chuckle darkly.

"Why bother fighting with it? Your darkness is just perfect the way it is now; hidden away from others in the back of our line with me." The sniper commented with a strange grin, more than a few people at the table, including Lucina, shying away from the Grimm obsessed teen.

"…Your kinda off, ya know that?" Yang replied evenly, the green haired sniper simply scoffing in response. "But enough about your sword, I wanna ask about what's really important…how you and Jaune started dating."

Lucina's mind all but froze as she tried to process the question, the black haired dust mage noticing out of the corner of her eye that Pyrrha had stopped moving as well but she wasn't about to think too hard about that, she had much more important things to worry about.

"Wha-wha…what are you talking about?" The younger girl all but squeaked in embarrassment, Yang simply smiling coyly at her in return.

"Oh you don't have to deny it. We've all seen the way he follows you around now and how he's watching you when you're not aware…its honestly cute how smitten he is with you….but hey, it's always nice to see someone get their ball and "chain", and in your case its literal. So how's it been going? Is he as bad at kissing as he is at making pickup lines?"

Lucina tried to form so coherent thoughts, intending to deny the blondes claims outright, but she was so embarrassed that she could barely think let alone speak. So instead she decided to take the most reasonable course of action for a teen in such a situation; she let her head flop down onto the table and groaned loudly.

It was then that Nuria finally reached the point where she couldn't hold back anymore, the one armed fighter laughing so hard that tears began to form in her eyes. "Hah…oh god that was good…but you guys don't actually think that Lucina's dating Jaune do you?"

"Oh? Then are you implying that you know why that irritating fool has been hanging around Lucina here?" Weiss asked, one of her eyebrows shooting to her hairline quizzically at the brown haired teen, who nodded sagely in response.

"Of course, Little Lucina here has been teaching Jaune about dust and all that jazz. From what Lucina's mentioned he was supper impressed with her dust skills during initiation or somethin' like that…right Lucina?" The black haired girl didn't respond at first, instead choosing to barely lift her head and gaze at her former partner, but it didn't take her long before she recognized Nuria's lie for what it was; a way out of the situation.

"Y-yes…just some private lessons." Lucina answered, tilting her head slightly in confusion at the snickers and blushes that erupted from a few people at the table at her choice of words.

"Y-yes well, moving on, I hope that nothing terribly unexpected occurs tomorrow during our excursion into Forever Fall. I can't help but think that the Professors have something else planned other than collecting sap." Aqua eventually declared, having heard enough about their youngest member's love life and deciding to steer the conversation away from that particular topic, something that Lucina was eternally grateful for.

With the conversation once again shifting away from Lucina the rest of the meal went relatively well, although there was a small incident when Nora challenged Nuria to a eating contest that ended poorly for both contestants, and before long it was decided that they should return to the school for the night in preparation for the next day.

But Lucina for her part held back slightly, Aqua turning around to stare at her curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"U-umm…actually, I need to go buy some dust for tomorrow…I'll meet you back at the dorms." Lucina lied, Ruby shooting her arm up with an excited look on her face.

"Oh, oh! You should go to From Dust Till Dawn; they've got the coolest stuff there! And baddies keep showing up around it too so you can get some fighting in!" The young team leader recommended, Lucina nodding before waving goodbye and heading off into the opposite direction, intending to head to one of the stashes Nuria had set up for her cloak among other things she would need for her less than legal objective.

As she walked through the city Lucina couldn't help but smile as she thought back to the dinner. Even with all the teasing she received over her relationship…god it was so embarrassing to even think about, she had enjoyed hanging around the others. For so long it had been just her and Nuria, with only a few occasional acquaintances from time to time to help them on a job. Even back with…with her mom Lucina had barely ever been around others, her mom being afraid of her interacting with others for very obvious reasons.

As such Lucina had never really learned how to talk to other people, how to be…normal, but that didn't seem to matter to the strange people she had met since getting caught in Manara. Ruby with her hyperactivity, Aqua's strange almost motherly presence, Jaune and his teams strange antics, Velvet's help in dust studies, even Umbra was…well, she wasn't that bad when she wasn't being creepy.

It was while Lucina was thinking about the people she had grown close to over the last few weeks that she finally realized something, a realization that made her actually stop and blink in shock. _I…I really like being around everyone in Beacon. I'm…having fun._ She thought, almost stopping at the shock of the thought. For the first time in her life she wasn't worried about what they would do for their next meal, she wasn't wary of being found by a random police officer. Sure, they did have to fight against the Grimm and other students on a regular basis but Lucina was content and that in and of itself was something she had really experienced in her life before.

And having realized that she was happy for once, Lucina quickly came to the decision that she would do whatever she had to protect this peace, even if it meant tracking down the scum of the city for their headmaster.

 _Well…let's get going then; there are a lot of places to look and only a few hours to search._ Lucina dejectedly thought as she slipped into one of the many alleys, her face a mask of grim determination as she mentally shifted into her Phantom personality, a false smile of contempt forming on her face as she melted into the shadows of Vale.

* * *

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but these crimson trees hold just as much danger as they do beauty. Professor Peach as tasked each of you to collect a jar of sap from these trees and I am here to ensure that none of you die while you do so." Professor Goodwitch stated as she lead the freshman class through the forest, Pyrrha only vaguely listening to the teachers words as she glanced occasionally backwards at her team leader and partner who was currently standing behind Cardin and his team, carrying all their goods and refusing to meet her gaze.

The red haired tournament fighter couldn't help but sigh heavily as the stress of the last few days began to get to her. Ever since she had tried to comfort her partner that night on the roof of the dorms and learned how exactly the blonde teen had entered the academy things had grown progressively worse. Jaune hadn't spoken to anyone in Team JNPR since that night, leaving before they woke up and even when the red haired spear wielder did see her partner it was only in the company of either Cardin or the other freshman who was avoiding her, Lucina Lunimare.

Speaking of one of the only two dust mages in the freshman class Pyrrha couldn't help but send a nervous glance at the black haired girl who was currently speaking to her own team leader in a hushed voice, the young huntress in training looking absolutely exhausted; perhaps she was still tired from their night out on the town? Pyrrha wasn't sure what to make of the other younger girl in the freshman class, as they had barely interacted over the month or so since initiation, but she couldn't help but feel somewhat suspicious of her. It wasn't a day after Jaune told Pyrrha the truth of his entrance into Beacon that the blonde sword wielder began to hang around the young dust mage, and despite her insistence to the contrary last evening from all the times she had seen them together Lucina never truly seemed all that uncomfortable with Jaune present…was she lying about their relationship?

 _No Pyrrha, that's ridiculous. They've barely spoken to each other outside of classes so I doubt that they could form any meaningful relationship in that time…although according to Ruby they did meet on the first day…oh no…M-maybe it isn't so ridiculous._ She couldn't help but panic as she clenched her hands over her chest and stared down at the ground in worry.

"…well then, now that you have all heard how to properly extract the sap from the trees you are free to gather your own jars. We will meet back here in three hours. Good luck." Goodwitch continued, jarring the crimson haired warrior from her thoughts, the Mistral champion looking around to see that the freshmen teams were beginning to disperse. Turning around, Pyrrha met the gaze of her partner, Jaune frowning at her for a few seconds before turning away and following after Cardin Winchesters team.

Pyrrha watched the boy disappear behind the trees, sighing once again, before jumping slightly when someone placed a hand on her shoulder, the surprised spear wielder turning around to meet the smiling face of her fellow Mistralian.

"Is everything alright Ms. Nikos?" Aqua asked with what Pyrrha could only assume was real concern in her voice. The tournament fighter couldn't help but smile with strained patience at the axe wielder, as she had informed the pink haired girl a few times to simply call her by her first name but Aqua still insisted that she use her last name, although the tournament fighter suspected it was more out of respect for Pyrrha's strength rather than trying to keep the redhead at arms length.

"Oh no, I'm perfectly fine!" Pyrrha replied, trying her hardest to remain chipper despite the situation, the pink haired team leader clearly not buying her attempt at deflection as the two girls walked after their respective teams. "…Well, I suppose I have been better. I just can't help but worry over Jaune."

"Yes, I can see why. It is worrying to see an upstanding student such as Mr. Arc associating with…Cardin." Aqua commented, her eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of the less than honorable team.

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh slightly at that. "While I wouldn't exactly refer to my partner as a model student, but I'm concerned as well…he's been behaving strangely lately." She answered, deciding not to inform the other team leader about what she suspected was the reason Jaune was in such a situation. But Aqua did provide a unique opportunity to put her fears to rest, an opportunity that Pyrrha wasn't about to pass up on. "So um...Aqua, I was wondering if you believe Lucina was telling us the truth last night? I only ask out of concern for my partner and as I haven't spoken much to Lucina its well…"

Aqua stared up at the crimson leaves surrounding the two for a moment before answering, both mistral born huntresses ignoring Nora drinking down the sap that Ren had already gathered. "Hmmm…unfortunately I can't really say for certain. Despite the fact that she's my partner she and I have never really had a true heart to heart conversation, as she's a very reserved person." The team leader of LUNA admitted with an almost sad smile on her face. "You would have to ask Nuria for a more insightful outlook into the inner workings of her mind…but I don't think she was lying when she said there was nothing going on between them. Her embarrassment over being asked about it certainly seemed real after all."

Pyrrha couldn't help but nod in agreement at that, remembering just how red the younger girl had gotten when questioned about Jaune. "I suppose so…although I would still like to know just why exactly they are spending time together." The red haired huntress admitted, not for a moment believing that they were spending time together just to learn about dust, a tool that Jaune had absolutely no talent in due to just having his aura activated only a few weeks ago.

"True, but I doubt that they are engaging in any immoral acts…I would not allow it from one of my teammates." Aqua declared before both heard Umbra laughing manically to herself, shouting something along the lines of "Bleed for me trees! Offer me your lifeblood!" interrupting them and causing them both to chuckle nervously. "…I should probably go and look into that and make sure that she's not doing anything too outrageous. Until next time Ms. Nikos." The pink haired team leader said with a slight bow, turning away and walking off into the direction of the unsettling laughter.

The next few hours passed in relative peace, the only slight disturbance being when Weiss promised Ruby a grisly end for spraying a few droplets of sap at the heiress, Pyrrha empathizing with the white haired girl for how difficult it would be to get the red sap out of her dress. But as the hours went by the tournament winner couldn't help but notice an interesting fact, a fact that only made her previous worries return with vengeance.

Lucina wasn't anywhere around then, not with her team or with her partner…and if she wasn't here then…she could only be with on other person; Jaune.

 _Oh no…sh-should I go look for them?_ Pyrrha thought as she stood up and looked around in a slight panic. Despite herself, she couldn't help but imagine the two teens, staring into each other's eyes with barely contained passion, their lips slowly approaching the others. _N-no! Jaune wouldn't do that…I'd like to believe he wouldn't anyway. Perhaps I should bring this to the attention of Professor Goodwitch? She could separate them without arousing suspicion…or maybe…maybe I should just give up on Jaune and wish them happiness…_

But before she could decide on either course of action three out of the four members of team CRDL ran into the clearing from deeper in the forest, all three screaming incoherently about Grimm.

Yang, apparently having enough of their whining, grabbed Russel by his shirt and lifted him into the air. "What's going on? What Grimm?"

"B-back there! It's got Cardin!" The boy explained, Pyrrha dropping her jar of sap as thoughts of her wayward partner floated through her mind.

"Jaune! Nora, Ren, go get professor Goodwitch!" Pyrrha ordered in place of their missing leader, Ruby unsheathing her weapon as well as she too faced her team.

"Blake, Yang, go with them! There might be more!" She ordered.

"We will accompany you, if the Grimm are attacking Cardin and Jaune there might be more in that direction as well." Aqua decided, her three teammates nodding in determination as they readied their own weapons.

"Thank you Aqua, Let's go!" Pyrrha replied with a nod, the six teens running off into the direction that Cardin's lackeys had come from.

Pyrrha couldn't help but begin to feel a cold knot of unease in the pit of her stomach, her worry for her partner growing worse with each second. Was he ok? Did he have his weapon with him? What if it wasn't just an Ursa? What if…what if they were too late? And it was these thoughts that distracted her from the Beowolf that rushed her from her side.

Pyrrha tried to bring Akoúo to bear but the Grimm was already inside her guard, its bone white teeth shinning in the afternoon sun as it lunged for her neck. However, before it could even put a dent in her aura, a barrier of blue colored aura appeared in between them, the Beowolf bouncing backwards its head tilting in confusion as it realized it didn't have Pyrrha's neck in between its jaws.

The red haired huntress in training turned around to see Aqua standing close behind her, her hand outstretched and glowing with the same blue light as the Aura shield that had appeared before her. "Go! Keep moving! We will deal with these creatures!" The pink haired girl announced as more Beowolves emerged from the trees, snarling and snapping their jaws at the teens. Pyrrha didn't respond with words, as she was concentrating too much on the surroundings, but instead lifted Miló above her head in gratitude before sprinting past a Beowolf, the Grimm taking a swipe at her before being sniped by a heavy plasma round from Umbra the green haired teen cackling all the while, with Ruby and Weiss hot on her heels.

It didn't take long for the three teens to find where exactly Jaune and Cardin were, as the loud roaring of what could only be a furious Grimm was generally a good indication of where there was danger, and when they happened upon the clearing to see the ongoing fight the red head couldn't help but pause in surprise.

The Ursa was large, nearly the size of an Ursa Major but not quite, and was clearly intent on destroying Cardin based off the way it seemed to be focusing on the racist teen. Said teen was currently lying down on his back, his hands held out in front of him in a pathetic attempt to defend himself, his mace discarded a few feet away. But neither the Ursa nor the beaten teen drew Pyrrha's attention, as standing in between the Grimm and the mace wielder was Jaune, the blonde teen holding his sword and shield at the ready with a determined look on his face, a stark contrast to how he looked like the last time the red haired fighter had seen him in the arena.

Pyrrha couldn't help but suck in a tense breath as the Grimm stared down at her partner in apparent confusion. One part of her, a very large part of her if she was being completely honest wanted to rush in and help the in over his head teen, as the Grimm before him wasn't exactly a run of the mill Creep. But the other more rational side of her mind could see the silver lining of the situation. Here was Jaune, clearly ready and willing to fight, willing to take a step forward, and if she interfered now it might shatter his newfound resolve.

 _What do…what do I do?_ She thought in a panic as her grip on Miló as her gaze switched between the two combatants, the Grimm slowly beginning to circle the blonde Huntsmen… _I'm sorry Jaune, but even if you leave Beacon because of this I would hate myself if I didn't ensure your survival._ She decided as she lowered her stance in preparation to charge in. however, before she could rush forward, the tournament fighter noticed a brief flash of something black in between the trees on the other side of the clearing, the red haired huntress only taking a few seconds to identify what exactly she saw, and when she did she couldn't help but smile.

 _I see, I suppose if she's here too then there's nothing to fear._ Pyrrha thought as she relaxed and held out a hand to stop Weiss, the heiress having brought her sword to bear. "Wait please, let's allow Jaune handle this." She declared, the white haired freshman staring at her strangely for a second before lowering her rapier.

"You sure Pyrrha? Jaune is…" Ruby questioned quietly, her scythe held tensely in her hands.

"I am, Jaune needs to do this if he is going to become a Huntsman." Pyrrha answered as the Ursa finally seemed to have enough of standing around, the massive bear Grimm taking a swipe at Jaune while the blonde teen rolled out of the way and slashed at the creature, the Ursa not even apparently feeling the cut as it knocked Jaune away with the back of its hand sending Jaune rolling away. The blonde teen righting himself mid roll before charging right back in and clearly aiming to end the fight based off of the fact he was staring intently at the Ursa's head.

Unfortunately, the sword and shield wielder apparently forgot to keep his own guard up, as Pyrrha could easily see that his shield wasn't angled properly to deflect the Ursa's own counterattack. _Well…a little help won't hurt him._ She decided as she held out her hand and felt the familiar rush of her semblance activating, the metal in Jaune's shield reacting to her thoughts and moving slightly, the change in its angle enough to cause the Ursa's claw to deflect away harmlessly while Jaune's attack managed to decapitate the Grimm.

"Uh…what the heck just happened?" Ruby asked in confusion, Weiss mirroring her partner's lack of understanding by sending Pyrrha a curious gaze.

"Well, Weiss has her glyphs, you have your speed. My semblance…is polarity." Pyrrha explained with a smile as Jaune walked up to Cardin and appeared to be threatening the other teen.

"Ohhhh, you can control the poles."

"Ruby, don't be a Dunce; she means she can control magnetism." Weiss instantly corrected her partner's misconception.

"Magnets are cool too I guess…but I still don't get why we didn't go help him."

"Well, Jaune hasn't had as much confidence in his skills as the rest of us. I simply thought that killing an Ursa would help to give him a boost…besides; he was never in danger even if we didn't show up." Pyrrha continued with a chuckle as she gestured across the clearing, all three girls looking up to see a young black haired girl hiding behind one of the trees with a faded green glyph in her outstretched hand, Lucina noticing their gazes almost immediately and retreating behind a crimson bush.

"Awww, I knew they liked each other! I can't wait to tell Yang about this!" Ruby cooed, Pyrrha ignoring the sudden tightness in her chest while Weiss continued to berate her team leader.

"Y-yes…well then, if you two will excuse me I tell Lucina something. Will you two go tell Professor Goodwitch that the danger has passed?" the green eyed Huntress asked, and after receiving a nod from both members of Team RWBY she began walking around the outside of the clearing in the direction they had seen the young dust mage. It didn't take long for Pyrrha to locate the mysterious teen, as Lucina's blue outfit was quite easy to pick out in the crimson and white surroundings. "Hello again!" Pyrrha called out, feeling slightly upset when Lucina seemed to freeze up at her voice but deciding to push forward anyway. "I just wanted to thank you for looking out for Jaune."

"O-oh…Y-your welcome…" Lucina replied as she looked everywhere but Pyrrha's face, her cheeks tinted red to such a degree that the green eyed huntress couldn't help but think was cute. "J-Jaunes' my friend…I just wanted to make sure he was ok…"

"I see, well then thank you once again." Pyrrha laughed lightly as she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, Lucina yelping slightly and flinching away from the contact, causing the red head to frown in worry. "…Was there…was there something I've done to offend you? Because if I did I am sorry and would appreciate the chance to make it up to you…what do you say?" She asked as she held out her hand to the dust mage, the shield and spear wielder trying to put her most friendly smile on her face as she could.

But in the end her friendliness didn't seem to matter, as Lucina hesitated for a few seconds before taking a step back and lowering her head. "I…I'm sorry!" She all but shouted before turning away and spiriting off in the direction of the others, Pyrrha watching the younger black haired girl leave with a look of shock and hurt on her face.

.

.

.

"Ehhhh…so something like that happened huh?" Nuria commented almost disinterestedly as Pyrrha recounted the events in the woods to the one armed huntress in training. It was only a few hours after the freshman class had returned from their trip through the Forever Fall forest, the two teens standing outside the dorms as the sun began to set on the eventful day.

"Yes, I wanted to invite her to dinner with the rest of Team JNPR in an attempt to forge a friendship with her…but it appears I only caused her more distress." The red head commented with a depressed sigh before continuing. "Is this because of who I am? Because of what I have accomplished?" She couldn't help but ask, as she clenched her hands in front of her chest. In truth, she had feared that her status as a pseudo-celebrity would cause others to be either afraid or too shy to speak to her, and while her own team and the members of team RWBY had alleviated her fears somewhat it was inevitable that someone would eventually treat her differently because of her past, she was just somewhat upset that it happened with someone she was certain could have been a good friend.

"…Huh? What are ya talkin' about?" Nuria replied dumbly, the brown haired girl tilting her head in confusion while Pyrrha stared at her in surprise.

"…Um, my history? My status as a champion of the Mistral regional tournament?" Pyrrha explained, Nuria continuing to stare at the green eyed freshman in confusion. "…I was the mascot of cereal brand for awhile?"

"…ah, I thought I recognized you that first day here." Nuria commented as she gently clapped her hands together the moment she made the realization. "Lucina's not much of a marshmallow kinda gal, she's always preferred Coco Grimmy if she gets a choice. And I don't really know what this whole tournament thing is but the two of us grew up outside of the kingdoms so we really didn't keep up to date on current events. So sorry to say that whatever reason you think caused her to run from you is wrong."

Pyrrha couldn't help but stare at the one armed freshman in shock as she tried to process Nuria's revelation. "But…but if that's true then why has she done everything in her power to avoid me? Did I somehow offend her during initiation? Or...does the is have something to do with Jaune?"

The one armed huntress stared passively at Pyrrha, working her jaw as she seemingly was trying to decide on something, but eventually she simply sighed and crossed her arms over her chest." Look Pyrrha; I like you, you're not bad compared to most Mistraians I've met, so I'm thinking that it would probably be for the best if I just let you in on what's up with Lucina…you've got to understand that Lucina isn't exactly that comfortable with people. She lived a pretty sheltered life with her mom, to the point where the lady didn't even really let her go near towns all that often…but that's not why Lucina's avoiding you."

"Then…why?"

"It's stupid, silly, but for Lucina it's something that she just can't ignore it. When she looks at you she can't help but see…"

* * *

Lucina couldn't help but sigh heavily as she stared up at the shattered moon, her thoughts going over and over everything that had happened during the day. She hadn't managed to track down the man Junior indicated until only an hour or so from dawn, the black haired girl managing to sneak into their dorm room just before Aqua woke at first dawn. As such she had barely slept a wink. Nuria of course understood why Lucina was so exhausted and so the one armed huntress offered to gather the sap for her, allowing the young dust mage to hide away in the top of a tree in order to take a much needed nap.

Unfortunately sleep wasn't something she was able to get much of. As it wasn't long after she began her cat nap that the sounds of fighting woke her right back up. Looking down from her perch, Lucina watched in surprise as Jaune fought back against Cardin, something that the blonde teen was unwilling to do only days ago.

 _Huh…that's...interesting._ Lucina couldn't help but think as she jumped down from her branch and hid behind a tree and watched Cardin push Jaune around. _Should I help him? He's my friend but…he looks better than last time…maybe I should just watch for now._ She eventually decided, prepping a glyph if it was necessary.

When the Ursa appeared Lucina couldn't help but gulp nervously, as the bear wasn't exactly small compared to anything that Jaune had faced alone, but rather than reveal herself Lucina couldn't help but wait and watch. She didn't want Jaune to get hurt, but Jaune was fighting really hard out there, it would be wrong for her to get in the way.

And as it turned out she was right to stay back, as the blonde teen actually managed to behead the Grimm with surprising skill considering that his sword skills were mostly on par with Lucina's own. But as Lucina considered how exactly to approach the older teen and congratulate him on his victory she notice Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha staring at her from across the clearing, causing the young dust mage to freeze up momentarily before fleeing the scene.

And of course things only got worse from there, as Pyrrha ended up approaching her only seconds afterwards and put her on the spot. Lucina wanted to talk to the red haired Huntress in training normally, she really did, but every time she looked up at her face she couldn't help but be reminded of the past, and that just made her more depressed. It didn't help that the moment they had got back Aqua had started to lecture her about ensuring good dynamics with other teams and with her own while Nuria sat back and laughed silently at her expense, hence why the black haired girl had chosen to flee from her teammates to one of the few places she could go to be alone, the roof.

 _Maybe I should talk to Professor Ozpin about this…maybe he can get our team switched to another dorm? I don't think…I can't keep this up too much longer._ Lucina couldn't help but think as she fiddled with the chain of her most prized possession around her neck.

But before she could think too long on what she needed to do in order to keep Pyrrha at arm's length she began to hear voices in the distance, a disturbing feeling of déjà vu at the back of her mind. Slowly getting up, Lucina's eyes widened considerably as she saw both Jaune and the very person she had just been thinking about avoiding only seconds ago.

 _…When I think about people do I summon them? Th-that's…terrifying._ She thought as she shivered involuntarily, trying hard to keep quiet and avoid any of the loose shingles that had revealed her last time. Unfortunately it didn't matter how quiet or stealthy she was, as Pyrrha simply turned her head to smile up at her the moment she began to make her way across the roof.

"Hello again, Lucina! Would you mind coming down here please?" The red head asked, her voice kind but her eyes gave the dust mage a very different impression, an impression that made Lucina feel like a predator was only seconds away from attacking her.

"M-Mmm…" She muttered as she stood up from behind a chimney, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment while Jaune stared at her in shock.

"Really Lucina? A-are you stalking me?" The blonde boy asked as he covered his privates and took a step back with a nervous expression on his face, Lucina's blush growing even worse as she put her head in her hands and groaned loudly into her palms.

"Jaune, I don't believe that now is the time to make jokes...and some people might take your actions as sexual harassment so I would refrain from doing so in the future." Pyrrha warned with a strained smile on her face, Jaune removing his hands and scratching his cheek.

"R-really? I thought it wasn't bad…"

"It was… it really, really was. Please don't do it again." Lucina whined into her hands moments before she felt someone wrap their arms around her and pull her into a hug, the black haired girl peering through her fingers to see Pyrrha smiling down at her.

"I'm so sorry Lucina, I had no idea that I looked so much like your mother and that I was causing you so much pain just by being near you." Pyrrha apologized, her voice quiet and sorrowful, Lucina freezing up at the unexpected apology for a second before looking down at the ground.

"…Nuria?" She questioned, Pyrrha nodding her head in confirmation.

"Yes, I spoke to her after we returned from Forever Fall and she revealed the truth to me…I never imagined that not only did your mother look almost exactly like me, but wielded a spear as well. Even I would be uncomfortable interacting with someone that reminded me so much of a deceased parent."

"N-no…it's not your fault…I just...I just miss her so much." Lucina murmured into the red haired woman's chest, her eyes tearing up slightly as Pyrrha began to pat her gently on the head.

"Well, while I cannot say that I knew your mother, I can say that any parent would be proud to see you accomplish so much at Beacon…you are very strong Lucina." Pyrrha muttered, Lucina finally breaking down at those words and weeping freely into the arms of the woman who looked so much like one of the only people who had ever cared for her.

The two women stayed like that for a few minutes before Lucina finally pulled away, looking even more embarrassed than before, Jaune smiling at his partner as she stared down at Lucina in worry.

"Ya' know Pyrrha, You'll make a great mom some day." Jaune commented offhandedly, Pyrrha jumping slighty at the unexpected complement and shoving Jaune slightly in retaliation.

"J-jeez Jaune, don't say things like that." The Huntress in training said as she turned her attention back to Lucina, smiling even more than she was before. "But anyway Lucina, Jaune here has told me that you were aware of his secret as well but did not tattle on him so I would like to thank you."

"N-no need…I'm fine." Lucina tried to refuse, but Pyrrha simply shook her head in reply.

"Nonsense, and I have just the way to repay you…from what you said last night you lack any formal training in the sword correct?" the green eyed teen asked, Lucina flinching slightly but nodding her head anyway. "I see…Jaune here has just asked me to help him learn to fight, and as such I have decided that I will teach you how to fight with a blade as well." Pyrrha declared as she held out her hand. "We look forward to working with you Lucina."

Lucina looked down at the offered hand before staring back up at Pyrrha's smile, pausing for a second before looking over at Jaune to see just as friendly a smile on his face as well, her own face mirroring their own looks a second later before she grabbed the offered appendage. "Th-thank you!" She replied, trying hard to keep her voice from growing too loud in excitement.

 _So this is what it's like to have friends…I like this!_ Lucina couldn't help but think as she followed after the two members of Team JNPR, Pyrrha mentioning something about pancakes. Things were finally starting to look up for the former thief, and for the first time she couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that they got caught that day in Manara.

 **I realized something writing this chapter; that writing lines for Pyrrha isnt easy...eh, oh well. until next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

Lucina hated this, she hated this so very much…screw very thing good that had happened since getting caught, none of the good that had come out of joining Beacon was worth what she was going though right now.

"T-Thank you, please come again…" Lucina stuttered though her embarrassment as the couple left the bakery. How was it that she could handle dealing with all manner of Grimm, the stress of going into school for the first time in her life, and racist students that wanted nothing more than to hurt her but the moment she was asked to put on a frilly brown uniform she was all but beaten. Here she was, spending the first half of her Saturday serving customers and stuck in an outfit that was so embarrassing that she almost wanted to just find a hole to hide in for the rest of her life.

 _I should just run for it right now. If I grab my stuff from the back, get some money from our stash, and get as far away from this uniform as possible. If I go now then I can get away before Nur-._ The young dust mage started to plan out her escape before hearing someone approaching from behind and turning to see Cinza smiling almost motherly at her.

"Come on now Lucina, I understand that you aren't quite comfortable with the uniforms but you need to speak with more confidence if you're going to be working the counter." The mouse Faunus gently chastised the black haired teen nodding slightly before fiddling nervously with the bottom of her skirt.

"I-I understand…b-but it's…"

"If you can keep from stuttering for the rest of your shift then maybe you and Nuria will find some cake waiting for you in the fridge." The older woman interrupted, Lucina's complaints dying on her lips.

"I won't fail you." She declared, her voice deadly serious but only causing Cinza to laugh at her expense.

"That's the motivation I like to hear. Now run along and go take your break. Nuria was looking for you so you two could make a call home."

Lucina blinked slowly in incomprehension for a second before recognizing the code for what it was; time to make a report to their superior. "Oh, ok. Thank you." She replied before stepping into the back of the small bakery and finding her way out the back door, Nuria already sitting down on a crate with her scroll out in front of her.

"Hey, already dialed him." She muttered not bothering to look up from her second scroll, the one they used for their less than legal activities, her faced scrunched up in annoyance.

"Mmmm…" Lucina murmured as she too took a seat, watching the scroll screen as the call connected, the face on the other end startling both Huntresses in training.

"Professor Goodwitch…didn't expect to see you on the other end of this call. Somethin' happened to the Headmaster?" Nuria asked, the blonde haired woman on the other end scoffing and adjusting her glasses as she studied the two.

"Hardly, as headmaster Ozpin has many duties that require his attention beyond two of his agents. And as I was present when you were arrested he decided to inform me of your…extracurricular activities." The dust mage explained with narrowed eyes. "And while I cannot say that I approve of sending students on missions meant for full fledged Huntresses it is hardly my place to comment on his choices…now then your report." She continued, Nuria huffing and leaning back to rest against the wall.

"Bugger all has happened, whoever this group is they apparently aren't in the market for hired help right now."

"…Perhaps the issue lies with your talents then. As there have been three more robberies since Ozpin gave you this assignment." The vice-headmistress accused, Nuria's glare hardening slightly at the comment.

"Ha, ya no. I didn't say we weren't busy, just that we haven't been on any dust robberies like the ones you wanted us to look for…speaking of do you want us to keep track of the stuff we steal? To, I don't know, write it off or something?"

"…yes that would be appreciated. The companies will need to be reimbursed when this is all over after all." Glynda replied after a second, her hand entering the frame as she rubbed her temple. "Very well then, I shall inform Professor Ozpin that there are no changes. Ensure that when you are finished for the night you do not get seen by security. I will make no exceptions for any student that breaks curfew, even if those students are under orders from the Headmaster." Glynda declared as she cut the connection, leaving Nuria to glare at the red disconnection message while Lucina simply chose to sigh.

"…Wanna make a run for it? We could probably make it a few miles out of Vale before anyone realizes that we're gone." Nuria offered, her tone implying that she half expected Lucina to agree on the spot. And for the life of her she wanted to agree, but there was something that stopped her, a bond so strong that she couldn't resist its allure no matter how troublesome things had become.

"…Cinza said she would give us cake after work so no." Was all she said, Nuria sighing as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Damn, should've known that chocolate would beat out our freedom." She continued, the sarcasm in her answer completely lost on the younger girl who instantly tried to backpedal. "I'm joking Luci. Well, might as well get back in there then. Got to earn your cake after all."

The rest of the shift went well enough, Lucina just barely able to get over her embarrassment to serve the customers as she was expected to, before making their way onto one of the many airships that ferried students to and from Beacon, said airship absolutely packed with students enjoying their day off.

The flight up was mostly silent, Nuria still fuming slightly over the conversation with Professor Goodwitch while Lucina was content to smile down at the piece of cake Cinza had lovingly prepared for her, the black haired dust mage content to imagine the chocolaty goodness that she would get to enjoy later. But the silence was broken when Lucina's scroll, her normal non- secure Scroll, started to go off startling them both for a brief moment before the black haired freshman answered the call.

Lucina surprised, pleasantly surprised mind you, to see Ruby's smiling face on the other end of the line. Ever since the dust mage had managed to clear the air with Pyrrha the black haired scythe wielder had been all over Lucina, inviting her to team outings and meals. Maybe it was because of the fact that they were both younger than the other students at Beacon, or maybe she just liked spending time with Lucina and for her part she wasn't about to complain. "Heya Lucina! You want to come to the training arenas for some practice? I was just thinking that we could all use some more work for that whole team thingy that Goodwitch has planned for tomorrow. JNPR is coming too, you in?"

"Nnn!" Lucina replied with a few quick nods of her head. "I'd be happy to." She answered as she looked up at her previous partner. "Nuria?"

"Nah, gotta make up some homework for Doctor Oobleck cause' I fell asleep the other day…damn him and his long winded lectures."

"Heh heh, maybe you shouldn't stay up so late then. Even Yang's not that bad." Ruby commented from the scroll after overhearing their conversation, Nuria throwing both her metal and organic hands in the air in exasperation in response.

"Not my fault that our stupid job runs so long! Maybe if this stupid school would, oh I don't know, give us some more scholarship money then maybe I wouldn't have this problem!" She groaned out, both Lucina and Ruby giggling lightly at her misery.

After reaffirming the fact that she would join them and hanging up, the airship finally touched down just outside of Beacon to let off its passengers. Lucina was about to tell her thief companion bye when Nuria reached out and stopped her.

"Hang on for a sec Luci…there's something we need to talk about." The one armed freshman commanded seriously, pulling Lucina over to the side of the landing pad away from the other students. "Look, I get that this whole having friends and being a normal kid thing is all new for you and stuff but…just to get too comfortable ok?"

"…Why?" Lucina replied in confusion, her head tilted to the side as she tried to process what Nuria was getting at.

"Because I wouldn't bet on us being here for the whole four years." The brown haired teen answered as she held out her hand in order to stop Lucina from speaking. "Don't get me wrong, I don't exactly have any proof or anything, and I'm not gonna go out of my way to get us kicked out, but…call it a hunch. I just don't see us lasting too long when we eventually have to put all our cards on the table."

Lucina frowned at that, trying hard to understand why exactly Nuria felt that way, but in the end she resorted to simply nodding her head with a slight pout on her lips. "…I don't really get it, but ok."

Nuria continued to stare at Lucina, her gaze searching with her eyes narrowed, but in the end she simply sighed and shrugged. "Alright then, I guess that's fine for now." And with that the brown haired freshman gently smacked Lucina on the shoulder before walking off. "Try not to do anything too troublesome with those friends of ours! And don't worry about the cake; I'll take care of it!"

"…You'd better not eat it." the young huntress muttered to herself as she started to make her way to the training arenas. As she slowly made her way through the campus, Lucina couldn't help but wonder what exactly Nuria had been getting at. Why would they not be able to stay in Beacon? Sure they weren't exactly doing something legal, but that didn't mean anyone was going to catch them stealing stuff. Plus the Headmaster was the one who sent them on these missions, if they got into trouble he was sure to help out…right?

 _M-maybe I shouldn't get too used to this._ Lucina couldn't help but decided dejectedly. But before she could think too long on how easily she could lose her spot at Beacon she was interrupted by someone moving through the trees to her right, a figure who looked remarkably like Sky Lark. At first she was confused as to why the halberd wielding teen would be running though the forest in the middle of the day, as no one on team CRDL was the kind of person to train on their time off, but an answer presented itself only a second later when she rounded the corner of one of the dormitories and noticed some kind of strange shimmer on the ground, a shimmer that turned out to be incredibly slippery when she tried to step onto it and smacked her head hard against the pavement.

While she wasn't even remotely hurt by her slip, her aura absorbing the blow in its entirety, it was more than annoying than she wanted to admit. While Cardin and his minions hadn't been too much of a problem after Lucina taught their leader a lesson and threatened to castrate him, she didn't know what that meant but Nuria had said it would usually work on men, recently they had started to target her with their bullying.

Not that she was all that bothered by it mind you, so long as they kept their bullying to just annoying stuff like messing with the ratios of her dust combinations and marking up her equipment locker... And if they did decide to step up their game then at least she knew Nuria would be more than happy to teach them a lesson.

 _But if they touch my cake then I will end them. There are just some things you don't do._ Lucina decided as she stepped into the training area, her eyes quickly landing on a very noticeable red cloak.

"Ohh, ohhho, Lucina over here!" Ruby shouted from across the amphitheater, her thin arms held over her head as she waved her hands back and forth to get her fellow freshman's attention. Lucina couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm as she made her way over to her friends, trying her hardest to ignore the almost painful stares that Ruby's enthusiasm had brought on.

Thankfully she didn't have to endure it for long, as Weiss was quick to smack Ruby on the back of the head, causing the black and red haired scythe wielder to pout and rub her struck noggin. "Quiet down you dunce, Goodwitch already warned us about causing too much of a ruckus."

Yang scoffed at that, crossing her arms across her chest. "Ya, cause' making noise in the training arenas is really just so crazy, and we all know that when we fight we're completely silent."

"…It does seem like a strange request considering both the location and those who frequent it." Blake commented from one of the many benches that surrounded the arenas, her attention solely focused on the book in her hands.

"Pshhh, who cares what Goodwitch said, she's not here right now so it doesn't matter how loud we are!" Ruby decided with a wave of her hand. "An-y-way, I was hoping that since we've got that training mission this weekend you'd want to get in some fighting beforehand cause' you know Goodwitch is kinda mean and stuff so don't really know what she's gonna do to us, not that you need it or anything since you've got that awesome sword and all the chains and stuff and you've got Nuria and her super duper awesome arm thingy and all, but I figured you weren't gonna be doing anything important anyway and we could always use more chances to fight and I haven't gotten the chance to hang out with you lately…so do you?" the excitable teenager rambled, Lucina blinking slowly as she tried to process what exactly she just heard.

But despite her best efforts, she couldn't figure out what question she had actually been asked. "Do I what?"

"Would you like to have some mock one-on-ones." Blake supplied as she stood up and made her way forward. "Because it is so rare to encounter dust mages, we thought that it would be prudent to gain more experience in fighting against them. We just recently finished our fights against Weiss and since she needs a break-."

"I am NOT exhausted; I simply do not feel the need to continue demeaning myself for your entertainment." The white haired heiress interrupted, Blake not missing a beat as she continued on.

"-so we decided to ask you here to see if you wanted some more practice."

Lucina couldn't help but flinch at their proposal, not exactly enjoying the prospect of full contact spars after a long day of work. "U-umm…as much as I would like to…I don't really-."

"And I made some chocolate and strawberry chip cookies for us too! If you're willing to help out then you can have some!" Ruby shouted out as she held up one of the aforementioned chocolaty delights.

"…So who will I be fighting first? I'm fine fighting against anyone as soon as I go get gear." She finished with a serious expression on her face, already making her way to the lockers in order to retrieve her blade.

"Wow, I didn't really think that she would take the bait so easily." Yang commented in surprise, Ruby pumping her fist as Lucina was already making her way back to the arenas, power walking with a deadly serious expression.

"Never underestimate my leadership skills, dear sister. I can recognize a fellow sugar lover when I see one." Ruby bragged as Lucina took her place, already drawing a wind dust crystal from her belt and placing it in the center of her sword, the crystal remaining whole for a moment before vanishing and surrounding the dust mage in wind while the center of the blade glowed in a faint green light.

"…So who's first? I'm fine fighting against all of you if you want." Lucina declared, sounding a lot like she was bragging but just trying to get through the fight as fast as she could so she could enjoy the sugary goodness.

"I will," Blake answered as she drew a blade from her back and slotted an ammo clip into the hilt. "Ready when you are."

"Oh…O-ohhh…ok then." Lucina muttered as she tried to remember what stance Pyrrha told her to use when fighting against fellow sword users. _T-This seems like it's going to hurt._ The black haired freshman couldn't help but think as both combatants launched forward at each other.

.

.

.

"Honestly, how can you refer to yourself as a dust mage if you can't even properly use dust to attack? That blade is wasted on you if you can't even fire off a simple wind dust strike!" Weiss mercilessly berated Lucina as the black haired teen tried to suck down as much air as possible while laying down on one of the bleachers. Just as she had predicted Blake had torn her apart. Now that everyone had seen what trading blows with her blade would do no one was willing to get locked into combat with her, and with Blake being as fast as she was she was more than capable of simply dodging every clumsy blow Lucina threw at her. And even when she had managed to catch the katana wielding huntress in her chains her unique semblance allowed her to easily slip through her bulky chains.

Needless to say Lucina ended up losing, and if the dull throbs coming from all over her body from where she was struck by the flat of Blake's blade were any indication she lost badly.

"B-but…she was really fast." The black-haired teen tried to defend herself, realizing that her argument was pretty weak even as the words slipped from her lips. And so, after deciding it wasn't worth defending her poor performance, Lucina simply decided to fill her mouth with the sole reason she was even there, the chocolaty goodness that was promised to her.

Weiss, despite the fact that Lucina had all but checked out of the conversation, remained unimpressed as she scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest and glared down at the now smiling sixteen year old. "Oh I see, well then thank the gods that all grim only attack at a leisurely pace."

"Wow Ice queen, not exactly pullin' any punches today are you?" Yang commented as she made her way over to the bleachers, having just finished her own duel against Nora who were both sprouting new bruises.

"No I am not; I simply refuse to allow a fellow Dust Made to act so pathetically in battle. Honestly, between you and the Dunce I'm starting to think that Ozpin intends to turn this school into some sort of expensive daycare." The heiress continued, Lucina flinching slightly as she continued to eat the offered cookies.

"Hey! Whaddid I do?" Ruby cried out indignantly in between her own bites, the black haired scythe wielder sitting opposite the tray of sugary delights.

"…I think your being a little too hard Weiss." Blake quietly refuted from her spot on the bleachers, the yellow eyed teen currently performing maintenance on her weapon. "While she may not have been able to land too many blows on me, it was hardly an easy fight on my end either. Her reactions were surprisingly fast all things considered and her chains, despite being so large, moved with a reasonable level of speed."

Lucina couldn't help but blush at the compliments, but whatever boost she received to her ego from the black haired girls comments were lost at Weiss' next comment. "And it is precisely because she has such speed that I simply cannot comprehend why she continues to create such large chains through her semblance."

"…Eh? I can do that?" Lucina dumbly questioned, her surprise momentarily drawing her attention away from the chocolate chip cookies.

"What do you mean "Eh?"? Have you truly never considered the fact that if you decrease the size of the runes you could decrease the size of the corresponding chains?" Weiss half shouted as she turned around from Blake to glare at the younger teen, Lucina flinching slightly under her icy glare.

"N-no…not really." Lucina admitted, Weiss sighing heavily in annoyance while Yang laughed loudly.

"Well, while I can't say I know much about Glyphs and stuff, it seems that Lucina here never really got wrapped up in studying her semblance. But she's bound to now!"

"…Booo!" Nora yelled from across the arena, eliciting a chorus of laughs from the gathered teens, even one from Weiss.

 _I like having friends around. It's…nice._ Lucina couldn't help but think with an almost painfully happy smile on her face as she reached back down onto the tray of cookies for the last one.

Only to stop when Ruby's hand grabbed the other side of the chocolate chip cookie, the two teens pausing for a brief moment, staring down at the cookie they were both holding, before meeting each other's gazes.

"Ha, ha, Heya Lucina? Did you notice that your hand is on my cookie? Would you mind letting go?" The black haired teen said with a strange tone, her eyes narrowing slightly as she gazed at the dust mage.

However Lucina's grip refused to lessen, her own eyes narrowing in response. "…It's not your cookie, its mine."

"Are you two truly fighting over a single cookie? Why do you not simply go find the schools cake butler and have him make you some more? Honestly, it's like I'm surrounded by fools." Weiss commented with another sigh, both black haired girls ignoring her as they continued to glare at each other.

"That was a great joke Lucina! It was even better than Yang's stupid puns. But for real now, let go of my cookie."

"…You said if I came here I would get cookies…and I still want cookies." Lucina replied, both girl's aura flaring slightly as their anger grew.

"Hold on for a moment. I feel that we should address Weiss statement about having a servant solely devoted to cake making...No? I guess it's just me that finds that strange then." Ren commented from off to the side of the confrontation, sighing heavily when everyone ignored him.

"Alright! That's it!" Ruby shouted out as she leapt to her feat and pointed an accusing finger at Lucina. "I can take the weird way you eat so fast, I can accept my partner being a better friend to you than me, heck, I'm even fine with you having such a but I won't sit here and let you take my last cookie without a fight!"

"…Fine." Lucina agreed, standing up and preparing to attack with everything she had. However, before either girl could even ready their weapon, Yang moved to stand between them with her hands held out in front of their faces.

"Whoa there, let's just all calm down for a sec'. Both of you fought a lot today and fighting with your Aura's are pretty drained you might actually get injured this time around."

"Don't get in my way Yang! This is something that we need to do!" Ruby shot back, Crescent Rose held tightly in her hands.

"…Can't they just go buy some more cookies? Is that one tiny thing really worth fighting over?" Blake thought out loud in a quiet voice as Yang continued to try and defuse the situation.

"As future defenders of mankind, there are certain things that we simply cannot abide by. Things we must fight for against even our closest of friends. Those two truly understand what it means to be a Huntress." Pyrrha explained, her voice sounding almost awed as she gazed at the two girls seconds away from coming to blows.

"…You do know that they are talking about baked goods right?" Weiss tried to confirm, but before Pyrrha could answer Yang stomped her foot with enough fury to cause her eyes to flash red.

"Alright! Shut up both of you!...now, if you guys are really set on fighting over this cookie, then I think I've got a way for you two to sort this out. We've got that whole team thingy tomorrow right? Why don't we say that whoever's team does best gets the cookie? That cool with you two?"

Both the sixteen-year olds stopped at Yang's proposed contest, each one trying to read the others thoughts. But eventually Lucina relaxed and nodded her head. "…Fine, that works for me."

"Me too! Team RWBY behind me that cookie will be mine! All mine! And I won't share it now! " Ruby taunted before laughing manically with a frenzied look in her silver eyes her actions only furthering Lucina's desire for victory.

* * *

"So let me get this straight Lucina, not only did you completely ignore me when I said not to cause any problems, but you also somehow managed to alienate one of the best teams in our year over a cookie?" Nuria questioned with a strange look on her face, an expression somewhere in between incomprehension and admiration.

"U-umm, yes I guess?" Lucina sheepishly confirmed as her three teammates stared at her with wide eyes. "But they were really good cookies and I wanted the last one."

"…Lucina…you…" Nuria muttered in exasperation, running her still human hand down her face as she tried to put her words together. But before she could really get rolling on berating the younger dust mage Aqua intervened, the pink haired team leader placing a comforting hand on Nuria's shoulder.

"Is it really such a big deal? True, I personally would not have been quite so combative over just a cookie but it's hardly an issue to have a friendly competition between fellow freshman teams."

"I wouldn't exactly call it friendly considering how aggressive Lucina can get over chocolate but I guess you're right. No reason to turn down a good fight." Nuria admitted with a shrug, a predatory grin on her face as she cracked her knuckles."

"Yesss, let us unleash our darkness on the fools and enjoy the sugary darkness as a reward for our might!" Umbra cackled from her "Laboratory of Darkness".

"…she means that she'd be happy to help and get you your chocolate Lucina." Nuria eventually translated, the green haired sniper nodding in conformation as she turned her attention back to her beakers.

It was then that Aqua walked over to her desk to hold up the notice that Goodwitch had given to each team leader about the team tests occurring on Saturday, the pink haired girls face a mask of concentration as she read through the assignment once again. "According to this, tomorrow's activity will test our teamwork through bouts of capture the flag in the Emerald Forest. Teams will begin the exercise five hundred feet apart from each other and the wining team will be determined when either one team's aura's fall into the red zone or when a member of one team manages to get their hands on the flag of the other team."

"So we'll need both offense and defense for this then?" Nuria clarified, Aqua's nod in confirmation causing the brown haired freshman to click her tongue in annoyance. "That could be a problem then, we aren't exactly well balanced when it comes to team composition."

"True, only the two of us have any real experience when it comes to fighting foes head on, which we will most certainly have to do on offense. But even if Lucina can hold her own in close combat to a certain degree, Umbra here…"

"My darkness is meant to be hidden in the shadows, just as my semblance does for my body. If you send me out into the light then there will be hell to pay." Umbra growled out, her three teammates turning to stare at her strangely.

"…Ok, I may have gotten decent at translating for you, but that one went pretty much over my head. What was that about your semblance?" Nuria asked, her own question mirroring the unasked questions of Aqua and Lucina.

"Tch…I mean this." Umbra answered cryptically before her whole body vanished into the shadows of her laboratory. Aqua making a startled noise as the green haired snipers body vanished while Lucina simply blinked owlishly. "The shadows themselves rise to obey my commands, hiding my darkness from those who are unworthy. But should I attack or move the shadows will condemn me, releasing my form from their comforting embrace." She continued, her form once again becoming visible as she stepped forward.

"So you can make yourself invisible so long as you're in a shadow and not moving? Coolio." Nuria confirmed, whistling her admiration when Umbra nodded once again.

"While it does seem useful, it does put us in all the more sticky of a situation." Aqua thought out loud, once again drawing all eyes to her. "If your semblance requires you to remain still to use it will be nearly useless on the move and therefore not effective on offense not to mention as our sniper it would be best to keep you in one place to maximize your effectiveness."

"And Lucina's not exactly good enough to hold off anyone but Jaune in close combat, so if we leave the two of them on defense then we need at least one of us to hang back to help them out." Nuria finished as she crossed her arms in concentration and slowly turned her gaze back to their pink haired leader. "So what do you want to do then leader? Just have us all hang back and try and go for an Aura win?"

Aqua did not reply immediately to Nuria's question, her eyes narrowed and her hand rose to her chin as she worked through the strategy. But eventually an overly confident smile spread across her face. "No, I think not. Rather we shall claim victory through the capture of the enemy's flag. Let me explain…"

* * *

Nuria couldn't help but breathe heavily as she stretched out her arms, enjoying the feeling of both her metal arm and real arm popping slightly as they settled into place. It wasn't exactly a great day for team exercises, as the sky was covered in gray clouds that promised rain to come, but it hardly affected the one armed freshman. Weather was weather; it didn't really make a difference when it came to beating down fools who were stupid enough to get in front of her.

And while she didn't personally care much about all this training stuff team building exercises but if she threw the fight then she would never hear the end of it from Lucina. She may be quiet most of the time, downright shy if Nuria was being completely honest, but when it came to chocolate she turned into a miniature hellion complete with all the nail scratching and hissing that one would expect from a woman scorned so brown haired teen was more than willing to give a hundred and ten percent for this fight if it meant keeping the black haired dust mage off her back for awhile longer.

 _Eh, even if I don't go all out, Aqua's little plan isn't half bad so we might just have a chance. Gotta give props to the "Mistress" after all this is all over._ Nuria couldn't help but snicker to herself as she gazed over her shoulder to see two of her teammates going through their own preparations. Aqua appeared to be going through some of her stances or somethin' like that, Nuria honestly didn't care enough to find out, while Umbra was systematically taking apart and putting back together her rifle with surprising grace for such a strange girl.

And while she couldn't see her, Nuria knew that Lucina was probably hiding somewhere behind the raised platform that their flag was standing on, psyching herself up for her special part in their strategy.

 _Still cant believe how quickly she went native once we got here…but I guess if I had to deal with the shit she did when she was a kid I would jump at the chance for a normal life too...well ok, not normal per se but as close to normal as former professional thieves turned Huntress trainees can get._ And as much as Nuria wasn't exactly looking forward to the eventual fallout when someone managed to put two and two together and put them on the spot about their nearly nightly escapades. But until then she was perfectly happy to throw down for the hell of it.

"Attention students, we will shortly begin our team training exercise." Glynda Goodwitch's cold calculating voice echoed through the forest from the many speakers surrounding them interrupting Nuria's thoughts and brining her back to the now. "To review, in order for one team to claim victory you must either force all members of the opponents team into the red zone or remove the flag from their pedestal. If no team achieves victory within thirty minutes the winning team will be the one who has the greater amount of Aura remaining. And as a reminder, while both myself and Professor Peach will be watching the fight, we will not step in even if the Grimm enter the combat area, be aware that not all movement will be from your fellow students."

"God, they just can't make it easy for us can they?" Nuria couldn't help but complain out loud as she placed her hands on the back of her head and gazed up into the cloudy sky, tuning out the rest of Goodwitch's explanation.

"I see no issue with it, the Grimm are a constant threat after all regardless of what our mission might be." Aqua defended, Nuria rolling her eyes and muttering about their "goody two shoes" of a leader for a moment before once again turning her attention back to the announcement.

"-and as a reminder no lethal force will be tolerated in regards to your fellow students…and with that the match between team LUNA and team JNPR will now commence." The blonde dust mage announced with little fanfare, a loud klaxon marking the beginning of the match.

 _Huh, so we're goin' up against JNPR first? This should be fun, always wanted to trade blows with Nora and her giant no-shits-given hammer._ Nuria thought as she rushed forward into the forest. Aqua had decided that rather than twiddling their thumbs and waiting right around the flag for their opponents to arrive, risking one of them making a break for it and getting the flag from its spot, they would instead move slightly outside the range of the flag in order to keep someone from exploiting a break in the fighting to snatch their flag away…plus they did kinda have to draw JNPR's attention if they wanted Aqua's strategy to work right.

"Shrouded in darkness, awaiting my prey." Umbra's calm, almost zen-like voice, sounded off from the scroll in the front pocket of Nuria's jacket, the one armed fighter mentally translating the sentence to, "In position, waiting on target".

"Roger, wait for the signal from either Nuria or myself. Are you in position yet Nuria?" Aqua replied her voice tense with either anticipation or nerves, Nuria couldn't tell and honestly didn't really care which it was.

"Almost aaannnnddd…. there! I'm good." Nuria answered as she reached a small clearing just to the northeast of their flag. According to the map they had been given by Goodwitch the combat area ran east to west, team LUNA having started at the western flag.

"Good, considering our opponents I do not believe we will have to worry about any attempts by Team JNPR to go wide in an attempt to circle around our defenses, but we should be wary just in case."Aqua continued in her lecturing tone. "Remember, outright victory is not necessarily our goal here, rather we must buy time for "Bound for Victory" to take effect."

"Ya, ya, sure. We went over the plan plenty so don't worry about it too much." Nuria casually dismissed, waving her hand through the air as if the pink haired leader could see it. "No need to worry, Lucina isn't about to let us lose this, if anything we probably should be worried about her taking it too seri-." Nuria continued before all her instincts screamed at her, warning her of something silently approaching her.

Relying purely on instinct, Nuria brought up her carapace like shield to cover her head and chest just in time to avoid the hail of submachine gun fire that rained down from the trees in front of her, her shield easily stopped most of the sudden downpour of bullets with the exception of a few that managed to slip past her guard and striker her aura.

 _Ok, well that's enough of that. Time to send my own greeting._ Nuria decided as she reached into her jacket with her mechanical limb, grabbed one of her incendiary rounds, and loaded said round into her fist. The massive shells that fired off from The Devils Right Hand weren't exactly accurate at long range, but considering the angel the bullets were raining down from her attacker couldn't be more than a few feet from her, and that was just close enough for her to make her own surprise attack.

The moment the hail lessened slightly, likely due to a need to reload, Nuria took her opening to move her shield out of the way and uppercut the air in front of her while her fist parted to launch the red dust infused shell at the nearest tree.

The shell stuck the tree with all the force of a speeding car, shattering the trunk for a brief moment before the shell detonated and covered a good portion of the forest before her in fire and causing a shockwave to buffet the one armed brawler. And of course, with so much red now filling her vision Nuria was quick to pick up on the blur of green that shot out of the inferno with its weapons raised only to be blocked by the brown haired freshman's metal limb.

"Heya Ren, fancy meeting you here." Nuria called out with a confident smile on her face.

"Miss. Embers." Ren greeted calmly before leaping backwards only to raise his pistols once again. But before he could even fire a single bullet Nuria closed the distance, her shield held out in front of her as she attempted to barrel through the black haired teen. Ren attempted to roll out of the way of the charging teen, but due to not having expected it Nuria managed to clip him, his roll a lot less controlled than he had intended.

And Nuria wasn't even nearly done, already having loaded a new shell into her fist and throwing it forward with vengeance. But Ren was more than prepared for this attack, using his backward momentum to practically spring off the ground and onto a nearby not burring branch while Nuria's shell buried itself into the ground, leaving a small crater in the soft earth like a miniature asteroid.

"Is that a…cannonball?" Ren couldn't help but question as he gazed down at the smoldering black ball of steel still embedded in the ground.

"Well ya, can't exactly use any of my more powerful stuff on students ya know? Figured balls of steel would be just as good at lowering aura as anything else." Nuria commented with a shrug as an explosion echoed in the distance, both combatants turning to see a plume of pink smoke gently rising into the sky. "Well I guess Nora's goin' after Aqua then. That kinda sucks, wanted to take a swing at her myself after all."

"…I would not recommend it." Ren replied with a pained sigh, Nuria laughing loudly at the exhaustion in his tone.

"So where's Jaune then? I figure that if Pyrrha was with you then she would've already tried to jump me so what gives?"

"I fail to see how you could make either of those conclusions so soon after the beginning of this fight." Ren countered, his expression now guarded, only for Nuria to stare at him with a no-nonsense glare.

"Because if there's any word I can't think of to describe your blonde leader it would be "stealthy" And Pyrrha is just too nice to bother with all this cloak and dagger stuff."

"I…can't really refute you on those points." Ren replied with another heavy sigh before slowly brining his guns to bear. "But I'm afraid I won't be revealing any of our strategy today. You will simply have to win if you want to discover our intent."

"Awww, your no fun." Nuria returned with no real bite, her shield slowly rising until she was ready for whatever the black haired teen was about to throw at her.

The seconds ticked by as both combatants refused to move, both waiting for the other to make the first move, but the standoff finally ended when the dark clouds above the two decided to make the battle over cookies even more tense as they finally released the rain they were holding. The moment the drops of water began to bounce off the two freshmen Ren moved, his guns snapping up to release another burst of fire at the one armed huntress. Nuria was prepared of course, quickly moving her shield the few inches she needed to in order to cover her important bits. _Something's wrong, Ren's not dumb enough to keep banning his head against a wall so why is he-._ Nuria thought, trying to figure out why Ren didn't seem to be adapting any, but got her answer when two green blades appeared around the top of her shield and ripped it to the side, leaving Nuria wide open for the kick that the ninja-like Huntsmen launched at her chin.

Staggering backwards as her aura quickly rushed to the site of her pain in an attempt to repair the damage, Nuria was too dazed to stop Ren from delivering a quick flurry of cuts to her chest, her aura tanking each of the blows, each strike carrying enough strength that Nuria was certain that she had already dropped into the yellow. But Nuria wasn't out yet, and instead of trying to right herself the one armed huntress chose instead to use the momentum from Ren throwing her shield to the side to spin completely around with the flat of her shield flying straight at Ren's chest. Nuria's blow struck true, Ren's breath quickly escaping from his body as the bronze shield landed square in his chest sending him skidding backwards and his aura flaring slightly in response.

The two fighters paused then, both simply trying to catch their breath and figure out what to do next when something growled from the woods around them. Without even thinking both pointed their respective weapons in the direction of what could only be a Grimm. Ren immediately opened fire, his submachine guns peppering the now emerging form of a Beowolf while Nuria fired off one of her cannonballs, the metal ball tearing off the head of the newly arrived wolf Grimm.

"Quite the non-lethal weapon you have there." Ren commented dryly as the Grimm collapsed, already beginning to fade away into black smoke.

"Ha,ha…to be fair it was a Grimm, kinda supposed to kill them and all that." Nuria forced out a laugh as the two freshman returned their attention to each other. _He's good. He's got more than enough speed to dance around me and while I can maybe tank a few more blows he packs more of a punch than it looks like he should…stupid ninja stuff._ The brown-haired freshman couldn't help but complain as she loaded another cannonball into her arm. _Hmmm…really don't really want to show off one of our cards right off the bat, but I can't keep this up for much longer so I guess I'll go with plan B._

Her decision reached, Nuria turned to gaze up at the sky, the occasional drop of rain bouncing off her skin as she looked at the clouds. "heh, I guess whatever gods are out there have a sense of humor when it comes to battles over sugar. Didn't think it would get this…dark out here."

"The two younger freshmen did seem particularly intent on fighting over that cookie." Ren agreed with a strange look on his face. "Does Miss. Lunimare often combat others when they withhold chocolate from her?"

"…Occasionally." Nuria admitted with a shrug before pointing at Ren's chest. "But do you really think we should be just standing here shooting the breeze when you have something like that on your chest?"

"On my chest…?" Ren parroted as he gazed down at his chest, noticing a small red circle in its center. As the black-haired teen looked back up, Nuria couldn't help but grin at the look of pained realization on his face. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

"Oh ya." Nuria replied as a bolt of plasma burned through the trees, the water in the air vaporizing into a burst of steam as the energy barreled forward. The dual wielding teen attempted to get out of the way, but even he wasn't fast enough to move out of the way of a plasma bolt. The combination of lighting and fire dust landed only a few inches to the side of the laser sight, sending the black-haired teen flying backwards as his Aura flared angrily in response to the damage.

"Lie Ren has dropped into the red, he is out of the fight." Goodwitch announced over the loudspeakers, signaling the end of Nuria's fight.

The brown-haired teen instantly turned her back on the slowly recovering freshman before sprinting through the woods. While she was impressed with how quickly Umbra was able to hear Nuria call for aid through their still open communications, the fact that she had fired revealed her spot to the other members of team JNPR that were likely in the area. With Aqua still likely fighting Nora based off the sounds of distant explosions that meant there was at least one more fighter left to deal with, a fighter who could probably wipe the floor with the lot of them without even breaking a sweat.

"You'd better hurry up Lucina, cause' I doubt we'll last much longer if the so called "Invincible Girl" starts going to town on us."

* * *

Lucina's face was filled with nothing but concentration as she sent a chain from a rune over her hand into the branches of the next tree, waiting until she felt the line go taunt before pulling her from one branch to the next. Aqua's strategy wasn't exactly complicated but it really didn't need to be, all it need to do was work.

The pink haired freshman anticipated that most teams would put nearly all their cards on all out offense. Ruby being to impulsive to think much about defense and Jaune really didn't have the experience to know how many to put on defense or offense. And because of that team LUNA would take advantage of the other freshman's desire for blood.

Aqua, Nuria, and Umbra would remain on defense, attempting to hold off any and all attempts to steal their teams flag while Lucina would go on the offense, using her diminutive stature and her ability to create chains to grab the flag before anyone realized she was there.

 _I have to do this, for my team, for victory, for that cookie!_ Lucina egged herself on as she continued to fly through the trees. In truth, while she was more than willing to fight for the last of Ruby's strawberry chocolate chip cookies, she hadn't picked a fight with Team RWBY because of her chocolate love. She just knew that she wanted to spend more time around her first friends since meeting Nuria that awful night. After all these years she could just be a... normal kid for once. No traveling around to places she had never been before worried that someone might find out about her, no more desperately trying to scrape together enough food for two orphans.

She finally had a life, and she intended to enjoy every second of it.

Finally reaching a tree just outside the clearing holding team JNPR's flag, Lucina paused to survey her surroundings. She could see the flag plain as day, the green fabric billowing slightly due to the breeze that had swept in with the weather, and she couldn't see any trace of Aura in the area. Not that not seeing Aura was a sign that no one was there, they could easily be hiding behind something watching, but if they weren't right by the flag to block her they wouldn't be able to react fast enough.

 _Yes! Victory, and a delicious cookie, are mine!_ The black-haired dust mage couldn't help but cheer in her head as she conjured one final rune, a chain almost instantly shooting out of it at the undefended flag.

But her chains never reached their target. Instead, when they were a few scant inches away, two sniper rounds tore through the underbrush of the forest in front of Lucina and struck her semblance created weapon, sending the chains slightly off course and causing them to impact the ground with a dull thud.

Lucina was only shocked for a second, her fighting instincts quickly sending her senses into fight or flight mode. "Wh-who's there?" The young dust mage questioned, a question that was quickly answered when the perpetrator walked out from the trees behind the flag, causing Lucina to pale considerably.

"Hello again! How are you today Lucina?" Pyrrha waved, her ever present smile still on her face despite the fact that she was casually pointing the still smoking barrel of her rifle at Lucina's tree.

"P-Pyrrha?!...wha-what are you doing here?"

The red head giggled at Lucina's panic at being discovered, twisting Miló back into its blade form. "It's all thanks to our fearless leader correctly guessing your plan. And despite the fact that I would love to just stand here and converse with you. We are being graded on our combat scores. So why don't we take this chance to see just how much you have improved?" Pyrrha continued, the warm smile on her face completely contradicting the cold pit that was now settling in Lucina's stomach.

While Lucina didn't exactly care to compliment herself too often, she did feel like she had at least gotten marginally better at sword fighting over the last week, at least she was better than her fellow sword trainee Jaune. And she did have a powerful Semblance and skill with dust crystals did make her somewhat formidable.

But she knew without a doubt that Pyrrha would absolutely thrash her in no time flat.

 _I can't fight her directly, and I doubt that I can get my chains around her…this is going to be hard._ She couldn't help but think as she reluctantly drew her blade.

The two combatants continued to stare at each other, Pyrrha with a warm smile on her face while Lucina looked concerned. But eventually the black-haired freshman decided that she could wait no longer. Thrusting her hand forward with all the courage she could muster, two green runes appeared over Lucina's shoulders, their chains flying at the freshman champion as Lucina jumped down from the tree and began to run to the right of the clearing. She had no illusions that her attacks would land, as Pyrrha had shown that she could easily shoot down her chains, but Lucina could only hope that the distraction would last long enough for her to grab the flag.

But if Pyrrha was so easy to beat then she wouldn't have won a championship back in Mistral. Spinning her blade with a level of flare that made her movements look effortless, Pyrrha deflected the two chains with…surprising ease before throwing her shield through the air like a Frisbee, Lucina not having expected her to throw Akoúo̱ at her.

Taking the shield in the chest with a very unladylike grunt, Lucina rolled away from the impact as the shield returned to its owner, the golden barrier seemingly flying through the air with a mind of its own as Pyrrha caught it before spinning her blade once again to transform it into its sniper configuration. But Lucina wasn't just standing around waiting to be attacked, as before Pyrrha could even take aim Lucina had conjured a series of crisscrossing chains before her, the red head's sniper rounds bouncing harmlessly off her metal defenses.

Pyrrha, having determined that she couldn't easily breach Lucina's defenses, quickly made the decision to close the gap, the top fighter in the freshman class returning her weapon to its blade form as she rushed the dust mage. Lucina, trying her hardest not to panic at seeing her opponent barreling down on her, desperately brought up her blade to protect herself.

Unfortunately, she was completely unable to hold off the strongest member of team JNPR. For every blow Lucina managed to hold off Pyrrha managed to land three, no matter how she attacked the red-head managed to almost effortlessly block her attacks, when she tried to use her dust crystals Pyrrha seemingly effortlessly knocked them from her hands.

 _Somethings wrong._ Lucina thought as she managed to force the P of JNPR away, giving her a few seconds to catch her breath. _She's holding off my strikes a little too easy…and when she diverted my chains…_ While Lucina wasn't exactly shocked to see Pyrrha knock her blade away, when it came to her chains Lucina was much more in tune with what was occurring around them. And every time she had tried to bind her opponent the chains had reacted almost…sluggishly, like the moment they got within a few inches of her skin they seemed to freeze for a brief moment while Pyrrha escaped.

Something was interfering with her Semblance, and since Lucina couldn't see any dust interfering with her chains and Pyrrha had never actually touched them she could only assume it was Pyrrha's own semblance at work.

 _If she can interfere with my semblance then I don't think I can get her bound up or get the flag with my chains…oh shoot._ Lucina couldn't help but complain as Pyrrha smiled at her.

"You're doing quite well Lucina! But I have noticed a few wasted movements in your swings that we'll have to work on later. But for now, I really must finish this fight in case one of your other teammates is nearby." She complimented, her wide smile a stark contrast to the danger hidden in her words.

"U-umm…please don't?"

"Ha ha…unfortunately no." Pyrrha giggled as she readied her blade, Lucina inadvertently taking a step back.

 _I can't hit her with my blade, I can't hit her with Dust crystals, and I can't hit her with my semblance…This sucks._ The black-haired girl couldn't help but complain as Pyrrha slowly approached. _W-what should I do…m-maybe fall back and try and get around her? Maybe rush past her?...Oh wait! Maybe I can go with that new attack Aqua came up with._

During one of their team training sessions the pink haired team leader had brought up a point that Lucina had never really thought about. During initiation, she had used her chains not to bind something but just to hurt, specifically when she had dropped her chains on the Deathstalkers head.

And Lucina didn't really have an answer for her. for most of her life all she ever needed to do was bind up the Grimm or threat for a second and let Nuria tear into them like a Beowolf attacking a house of depressed people. But Aqua had brought up an interesting point, now that she was fighting against people one on one more often than she even fought Grimm she would need to fight more by herself and thus she had come up with a saturation attack for her to use if she needed to overwhelm someone.

 _Muuu…I really don't want to try this yet, but I really, really want that cookie…eh, I guess I'll just deal with being tired the rest of the day._ Lucina eventually decided with a shrug of her shoulders as she held out her hand, palm facing outwards, causing Pyrrha to stop as she warily waited for the dust mage to make her move.

And make her move she did, in the span of a few seconds the space above and around Lucina was absolutely filled with her unique green runes, each and every one pointed at the former Mistral champion.

"Oh my! That's…quite the display of runes Lucina. I wasn't aware that you could create so many." Pyrrha couldn't help but comment, her voice sounding almost dazed as she gazed up at the array of runes before her.

"Yea...it's kinda a new thing…and really tiring." Lucina admitted with a pained smile. "So, I'm gonna win now if that's ok with you."

"Heh, you may try Lucina." Pyrrha returned as she drew her shield closer to her chest, her eyes narrowing in anticipation for the coming attack. The two girls remained in their stances for a moment, each one attempting to get a read on the other, but nearly simultaneously both sprang into action. Lucina swiped her hand across her chest, her green runes beginning to spin and glow with a fierce light, while Pyrrha's hands began to glow with a black light as she began to rush forward-.

-only to stop when a loud klaxon blared through the forest, startling them both into inaction.

"Attention teams, Team LUNA's flag has been secured, all combat is to cease. The winner is Team JNPR." Glynda announced, Lucina's eyes widening considerably as she stared at the still smiling Pyrrha.

"…Eh?"

* * *

"Ha, ha ha! Yes! Victory is ours! Soon the entire world will tremble at our names! The world will be ours!" Nora shouted out from the top of the couch in the dorms common room, laughing loudly with her hands on her hips. The two teams were currently lounging on the various couches that dotted the room, the injured ones nursing their wounds while Team LUNA couldn't shake the air of depression that had settled over them after their defeat.

"Nora, you should calm down." Ren groaned out from his seat, the black-haired ninja, massaging his chest where he had taken the plasma blot.

"Awww, but Ren! What's the point of winning if you can't brag about it to the losers?" Nora questioned with a tilt of her head.

"…I cannot accept this…our darkness, our might, beaten by Jaune of all people? The light should be weak, feeble…perhaps the dark is not as potent as I believed?" Umbra muttered to herself, the team leader of JNPR staring at the sniper with a sideways glance.

"Is umm…is she alright?" Jaune couldn't help but whisper to Nuria, both teens trying to ignore the now pained wails emanating from the dark oppressed sniper.

"I think so? You can never be too sure with her." Nuria replied with a shrug before turning to Jaune with a playful smile. "But seriously though, how the hell did you of all people manage to get our flag out from under Umbra's nose? Not to mention the fact that you anticipated Lucina's attack."

Jaune laughed painfully as he rubbed the back of his head. "W-well…I just tried to think of what you guys would do in a fight. So, I just kinda…you know, planned for that. And as far as the flag goes I figured no one really would see me as a threat so I just…crawled up to it until I was close enough to grab it."

Aqua looked absolutely devastated at Jaune's explanation, her gaze on the ground and a horrified expression on her face. "…Unbelievable, to think that he not only managed to elude us all, but he even thought to counter my own strategy…I will have to redouble my efforts in learning strategy and tactics…I cannot allow something like this to happen again."

"…I feel like I should be insulted that everyone is so floored by our win. I mean, is it really that surprising that we won?" Jaune couldn't help but ask as he turned to Pyrrha, the red head trying to smile reassuringly as she shook her head.

"Of course not Jaune! They're simply…happy for you!" Pyrrha tried to encourage neither teen really believing her. but before either could say anything both were distracted by the sounds of Lucina groaning pathetically.

"Nooo…our win…the cookie…" The young dust mage cried out in sorrow, her pitiful cries pulling at Pyrrha's heartstrings as she reached over to hug the younger freshman.

"I'm so sorry Lucina, I didn't consider how much a win would mean to you. If you'd like we can make some fresh one's for you."

"Mmm…it's not just that. Now Ruby…" Lucina started to explain as the aforementioned scythe wielding teen flew through the door, cackling madly in the same manner that Nora had been only a few seconds ago, seemingly summoned by the fact that someone had mentioned her name.

"HA! We did it! Having obtained victory over Team CRDL means I win! The cookie is mine!" Ruby shouted as she danced around the room, only stopping when she landed in front of Lucina with a smug look on her face. "Well Lucina? What do you think of that? You guys couldn't even beat Jaune, let alone us!"

"…really? Again? Why does everyone try and hurt me?"

"It wasn't fair, it's just because Pyrrha's semblance was unfair." Lucina couldn't help but complain as she huffed and crossed her arms, both girls ignoring Jaune's complaint.

"Your fault for not finding out beforehand! Now the cookie is mine, all mine!" Ruby continued to gloat as the rest of Team RWBY walked into the common room, Ruby turning her attention to her older sister." Alright Yang, I'll take my prize now!"

"…What are you takin' about sis?" Yang replied after a second, a confused look on her face.

"You know, the cookie. The cookie you put aside the other day for the winner of the whole team fight." Ruby elaborated, Yang taking a moment to process her request before smacking her fist into her open palm.

"Oh right! That cookie…I ate it."

"…Eh?" was all Ruby could say in response, Yang laughing nervously as she shrugged.

"Yaw well, I kinda got a little hungry last night and came out here for a snack, saw the cookie, and well…kinda ate it." Yang explained, Ruby falling powerlessly to her knees with a devastated expression on her face.

"no…NOOOOO! My precious cookie! You were so young, you were so sweet! Taken from us before your time…whaaaa!" Ruby started to cry out, Weiss huffing in annoyance as she crossed her arms.

"I still do not understand why they just don't go find the schools Cake Butler and ask him for help." The white-haired heiress complained as Blake stared at her with a complicated expression.

"We really need to talk about this concept of a cake butler and their lack of prevalence in public." The quiet member of team RWBY commented as she pulled the other dust mage away, both ignoring Ruby's pathetic wails.

"…this chaos is comforting…a bulwark against the accursed light." Umbra crackled as the noise in the room only got worse.

Lucina for her part couldn't help feel a pang of pity for her fellow younger freshman, the black-haired dust mage watching as the scythe wielder continued to cry as her sister attempted to comfort her. in a way, this whole situation was kinda, sorta, her fault. She was the one who refused to let go and wanted to fight for the chocolate after all.

 _Maybe I could give her something to make up for it? But I don't know if I have any…Oh right, my cake._ Lucina thought, her desire to make her friend, and if she was being completely honest her best friend not including Nuria, happy and her desire to eat chocolate battling in her heart.

And while she couldn't understand why, her desire to make Ruby happy won out in the end. So, with a heavy sigh Lucina stood up from her spot on the couch and made her way over to the fridge. Opening the door and moving the various sauces and vegetables out of the way of her hiding place, Lucina located her hidden chocolate delight, and with one final pitiful wine of desire, turned back to the still bawling Ruby.

"Here you go Ruby, you can have this." Lucina muttered quietly as she held out the cake she had been waiting to eat since her last shift, Ruby's cries halting for a moment as she gazed at the offered chocolate with a shocked expression.

"Cake? When did we get cake? And why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Umm…we didn't get cake, I brought it from work." Lucina explained, Ruby's eyes only growing wider as she shook her head back and forth rapidly.

"Wait, it's your cake! Then there's no way I can take it! It's your precious cake, and with all you went through to try and get the cookie that my sister ate then even more so I could never take it! That just wouldn't be righ-." Ruby tried to refuse the cake, but stopped when she noticed the warm, wide smile on Lucina's face.

"I'm not giving it to you because you won Ruby, I just want to give it to you because you're my friend…is…is that alright?" Lucina stated, realizing by the end of her sentence that she was saying something overwhelmingly embarrassing, her cheeks going through a few shades of pink as her eyes looked everywhere except at Ruby's surprised face. "U-umm…if you really don't want it then I can j-." Lucina tried to extract herself from the embarrassing situation, but before she could get out another word she was glomped at near the speed of sound, the rose petals that always accompanied Ruby's semblance flowing around them as they fell to the floor.

"Aww, my little sisters got such a great friend. Now aren't you glad I ate your cookie?" Yang called out from one of the couches, Ruby half-glaring up at her the moment she spoke.

"You be quiet, I still haven't forgiven you for eating my cookie…but thank you Lucina!" Ruby first refuted before turning her attention back to the surprised dust mage. "But oh my god Lucina, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I knew you were a good person when you helped me the first day!" Ruby continued as she leapt to her feet and made her way over to the shared kitchen, Lucina managing to pull herself back up just when Ruby sped back over to her with two forks in hand. "But I still don't wanna eat it all by myself, so why don't we eat it together?"

Lucina's face instantly brightened up at that, a wide grin on her face as she nodded enthusiastically. "Mmm! Sure!" she replied as she took the offered fork, Ruby giggling as she held out the slice of heaven between them. Both girls almost simultaneously taking a bite and moaning in a way that made most of the other teens in the room blush.

As Lucina continued to enjoy her chocolate delight she couldn't help but relish the happiness she was feeling. Yep, defiantly glad they had gotten caught. And if this is how things were after only barely a month of school Lucina couldn't help but look forward to the future.

* * *

Roman Torchwick was many things, a huntsman dropout, a master thief, one of the smoothest men alive, but one of the things he was not was patient. So, when one of the blubbering animals called him to admit how they had failed once again in a dust robbery he couldn't help but slam his Scroll onto the table in front of him, taking a deep breath, and pull a cigar out of his pocket.

His fiery employer had given him a list of targets to get though before the end of the month and with the damn dirty Faunus screwing up at every turn he was now behind schedule, and if there was one thing that really annoyed the professional thief it was falling behind schedule.

Releasing a lung full of smoke, Roman couldn't help but glare at the map of Vale on the wall, the various districts of the city and their major dust stores all marked in red. "Well isn't this just a swell situation to be in." Roman couldn't help but complain as his partner in crime, the mute assassin Neo, walked up and took a seat on a nearby box of dust, her grin only adding to his annoyance. "With these damndable mutts failing every step of the way we're a little behind on our quota." Roman turned around then, pointing an accusing finger at the pink and brown-haired assassin before she could even snicker. "And I don't want to hear anything about how you could've done better with your hands tied behind your back! We're professionals here damnit, I'm not about to send my right-hand women in for something as simple as dust robberies. I'd hardly be better than that fool Junior if I did that!"

Neo shrugged at that before inspecting her nails with an air of casualness that only further aggravated Roman, a clear "Don't care Roman, figure this out" If he had ever seen one. But she did have a point. While Roman wasn't exactly afraid of his current employer, she given him a glimpse of what was higher up on the food chain in her little criminal enterprise. And if that white skinned freak of a woman was really goin' to change the world like she claimed then he wanted to make sure all his chips were on her side of the table when all hands were down on the table.

 _So what to do, what to do…I suppose I could lower myself and do the work myself. But after Little Red got in the way I can't say I'm looking forward to the next goodie-two-shoes who wants to make a name for themselves…_ Roman thought as he began to pace around the room.

But then it hit him, a realization dawning on him as a cruel grin covered his face. If the mutts weren't enough to get the job done then just get someone better to pull off the heists. And it just so happened that a few little birdies had been singing about a pair of thieves that, while nowhere near his level, were currently making a home in Vale. Two thieves that could likely rob a dust store right next to Beacon without getting caught.

 _And if they screw up it'll be no skin off my back._ Roman thought as he took another deep breath from his cigar. _Well then, maybe it's time that I look into these rumors of the Phantoms being in town._

 **For those curious why I'm taking so long on uploads its due to my previous computer dying a horrible fiery death last month and I still haven't been able to save enough for a replacement, as such all my stories are heavily delayed right now, sorry**

 **but anyway, next time we get more into the plot of A Grimm Fate! Until then, feel free to leave me a review!**


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